House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs Committee Members Compromised By Rogue IT Staff

[Ryan Ruck]

Hmm....

House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs Committee Members Compromised By Rogue IT Staff

February 4, 2017


Three brothers who managed office information technology for members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and other lawmakers were abruptly relieved of their duties on suspicion that they accessed congressional computers without permission.

Brothers Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan were barred from computer networks at the House of Representatives Thursday, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned.

Three members of the intelligence panel and five members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs were among the dozens of members who employed the suspects on a shared basis. The two committees deal with many of the nation’s most sensitive issues and documents, including those related to the war on terrorism.

Also among those whose computer systems may have been compromised is Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat who was previously the target of a disastrous email hack when she served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 campaign.

The brothers are suspected of serious violations, including accessing members’ computer networks without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress.

Jamal handled IT for Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who serves on both the intelligence and foreign affairs panels.

“As of 2/2, his employment with our office has been terminated,” Castro spokeswoman Erin Hatch told TheDCNF Friday.

Jamal also worked for Louisiana Democrat Rep. Cedric Richmond, who is on the Committee on Homeland Security.

Imran worked for Reps. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat, and Jackie Speier, a California Democrat. Both are members of the intelligence committee, and their spokesmen did not respond to TheDCNF’s requests for comment. Imran also worked for the House office of Wasserman Schultz.

Then-Rep. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, employed Abid for IT work in 2016. She was a member of House committees dealing with the armed services, oversight, and Benghazi. Duckworth was elected to the Senate in November, 2016. Abid has a prior criminal record and a bankruptcy.

Abid also worked for Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat who is member of the foreign affairs committee.

The three men are “shared employees,” meaning they are hired by multiple offices, which split their salaries and use them as needed for IT services. It is up to each member to fire them.

A criminal investigation into five unnamed people began late last year related to serious and potentially illegal violations of House IT policies, Politico reported Thursday. Chiefs of staff for the members were briefed Thursday by the Sergeant-at-Arms.

Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said the investigation was still ongoing, and arrests have not been made but staff were “asked to update their security settings.”

Buzzfeed reported that the Sergeant-at-Arms told staff that the subjects were four men who were brothers and one woman. It did not name them. It quoted one of the affected members as saying “they said it was some sort of procurement scam, but now I’m concerned that they may have stolen data from us, emails, who knows.”

Jamal did not return a request for comment from TheDCNF at a personal email address, while emails to House addresses in the three men’s names bounced back Friday.

Another man, Omar Awan, is a senior IT specialist for the House’s Chief Administrative Officer. An email to his House address did not bounce back Friday, but did not receive a response.

Abid, Imran and Jamal have all shared a house in Lorton, Virginia, that is owned by Hina R. Alvi. Alvi is a female House IT employee who works for many of the same members as the three brothers, as well as the House Democratic Caucus.

Signs of trouble have long been visible in public records. The Congressional Credit Union repossessed Abid’s car in 2009, and he declared bankruptcy in 2012, facing multiple lawsuits.

Alvi, who did not respond to TheDCNF’s request for comment, has taken multiple second mortgages.

Security-sensitive jobs typically require background checks for credit and legal problems that can create pressures to cash in on access to secret information and documents.

Jamal, who public records suggest is only 22 years old and first began working in the House when he was 20, was paid nearly $160,000 a year, or three times the average House IT staff salary, according to InsideGov, which tracks congressional salaries. Abid was paid $161,000 and Imran $165,000.

Jack Langer, spokesman for the intelligence committee, said the committee office has its own IT staff and security measures and classified information from the panel is not allowed to be sent to members’ personal offices.

[vector7]

EXCLUSIVE: House Dem IT Guys In Security Probe Secretly Took $100K In Iraqi Money

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL 23rd District) and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) speaks to a reporter before the democratic debate on December 19, 2015 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)


LUKE ROSIAK

Investigative Reporter

10:13 PM 02/20/2017

[
Rogue congressional staffers took $100,000 from an Iraqi politician while they had administrator-level access to the House of Representatives’ computer network, according to court documents examined by The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.

The money was a loan from Dr. Ali al-Attar, an Iraqi political figure, and was funneled through a company with “impossible”-to-decipher financial transactions that the congressional information technology (IT) staffers controlled.

Imran Awan, ringleader of the group that includes his brothers Abid and Jamal, has provided IT services since 2005 for Florida Democrat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman. The brothers are from Pakistan.

The trio also worked for dozens of other House Democrats, including members of the intelligence, foreign affairs and homeland security committees. Those positions likely gave them access to congressional emails and other sensitive documents.

The brothers, whose access to House IT networks has been terminated, are under criminal investigation by the U.S. Capitol Police.

Wasserman Schultz resigned from her DNC post following a disastrous email hack during the 2016 campaign. Her House spokesman did not respond to TheDCNF’s question Monday about Imran’s employment status. As of Feb. 6, she had declined to fire Imran.

Investigators found that congressional information was being copied to an off-site server and they suspect the brothers of improperly accessing information and stealing congressional property. Chiefs of staff for the employing Democrats were notified Feb. 2.

Soon after Imran began working for members of Congress, Imran’s and Abid’s wives — Hina Alvi and Natalia Sova — also began receiving congressional paychecks, TheDCNF found. Imran’s employers included two members of the intelligence committee, Indiana Democrat Rep. Andre Carson and California Democrat Rep. Jackie Speier.

By 2009, the family was simultaneously managing a full-time car dealership in Virginia, with Abid running day-to-day operations after contributing $250,000 in startup cash. It was called Cars International A, LLC, referred to as “CIA” in court documents.

Imran boasted unusual clout among House Democrats, and was even pictured conversing with former President Bill Clinton. After Rao Abbas, who was owed money by the dealership, threatened to sue amid allegations of deception and theft, Abbas appeared on the congressional payroll and received $250,000 in taxpayer payments.

Abid had “100% control” of the dealership, a one-time business partner said in court documents, in addition to his $165,000-a-year job working full-time for multiple representatives, including Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan and California Democrat Jim Costa.

“He had the dealer license and sole responsibility of running it.

Abid would put cars on the lot, take them in consignment, sell them, do all the title work and get money from the retail sale,” according to court documents. Multiple emails show the Awan brothers conducting business such as attending car auctions on weekdays.

“Imram later acted as owner since CIA was considered family business by the Awans,” Abid’s one-time business partner, Nasir Khattak, said in court documents. The car dealership’s finances consisted of byzantine transfers in which staff and cars were often swapped between it and a dealership next door, Khattak said.

Despite numerous family members making $160,000 congressional salaries, debts went unpaid by the brothers, including to the Congressional Federal Credit Union.

“It was very bad record-keeping in Cars International … it is close to impossible to make any sense out of all the transactions that happened,” Khattak said in court documents.

The $100,000 loan came as the dealership continued to rack up debt, court records show.

“Ali Al-Attar was out of the country as he was involved in politics and the formation of the Iraqi government,” Khattak said in court documents.

In addition to his other jobs, Imran is a real estate agent, and Khattak is also a realtor who obtained the cash from Al-Attar and passed it through bank accounts used for real estate deals in Fairfax County, Va.

“Having lost my and Abid’s collective investment of $500k due to Awan’s mismanagement, [CIA] was further in debt $400k to other creditors,” Khattak said in a lawsuit.

Khattak said Imran masterminded the family’s finances and by late 2010, Imran “was running the business in full control” and “instructed Abid not to even speak to anyone.”

The Iraqi cash disappeared amid a dispute between Khattak and the Awans. Khattak said defaulting on the loan meant Al-Attar now owned the business, but the Awans refused to relinquish control.

In 2012, Abid declared personal bankruptcy listing more than $1 million in liabilities. While debts to others went unpaid, he kept ownership of two houses, and Imran kept his own substantial property, despite his admitted role in the failed business.

Bankruptcy documents listed Abbas as a creditor and said he might sue Abid, but Abbas later took the brothers’ side in a lawsuit against Khattak, who said that the Awans had somehow manipulated him to do so. Not long after, Abbas appeared for the first time on the congressional payroll, and collected $250,000 from taxpayers through the end of last year.

Four out of the six Democrats he worked for also employed Imran. His employers included a member of the intelligence committee, Patrick Murphy of Florida; a member of the foreign affairs committee, Theodore Deutch of Florida; and Brad Ashford of Nebraska, who is on the armed services committee.

Abbas’ congressional email was cut off in early February, around the time the Capitol Police revealed that they had uncovered a scheme involving a network of IT aides. The Awans’ access has also been cut off. Reached at a personal email address, Abbas did not respond to repeated questions from TheDCNF.

Abid claimed the Iraqi doctor may never have existed. “If as suspected, all of this is a charade, particularly if it is learned the mysterious Dr. Al-Attar doesn’t exist or didn’t sign the documents, then the whole matter rises to a higher level,” he said in court documents.

The youngest Awan brother, Jamal, was also placed on the House payroll at 20 years of age and makes $160,000, far higher than others in similar jobs.

TheDCNF was the first to identify the brothers and Alvi, and now, Sova and Abbas.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2017/02/20/ex...#ixzz4ZKVNxbLx

[Ryan Ruck]

Hmm... Wonder how much of that info ended up in ISIS's hands?

[Ryan Ruck]

Plot Thickens In Probe Of House IT Contractors

March 14, 2017

A criminal investigation into IT contractors employed by dozens of House Democrats is sparking broader concerns about continuing access to sensitive government emails, amid new allegations of illicit activity beyond Capitol Hill.

The investigation was announced last month by the U.S. Capitol Police and purportedly focuses on the contractors' access to House computers and whether they took hardware and made questionable IT-related purchases.

A police spokesman, while declining to go into detail, told Fox News this week that the case remains opens and focuses on “the actions of House IT support staff.”

But a high-level House staffer acknowledged Monday to Fox News that the probe has raised concerns about emails being hacked.

Official documents and multiple sources say at least five contractors -- including brothers Imran, Jamal and Abid Awan -- are the focus of the probe but that as many as six people could be involved.

The others purportedly involved are Imran’s wife, Hina Alvi, and Rao Abbas, who is not part of the family.

They allegedly removed hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment from offices, including computers and servers, and ran a procurement scheme in which they bought equipment, then overcharged the House administrative office that assigns such contractors to members.

Sources also say the contractors, including one who worked for Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had “unauthorized access” to the House computer system.

The connection to the former Democratic National Committee boss has sparked questions about whether the contractors could have ties to the DNC hack last summer, which was seen to hurt Hillary Clinton’s ultimately failed White House bid -- or whether Russia or other outside operatives accessed emails that the contractors allegedly put on a cloud server.

There have been no reports or evidence so far showing the contractors were involved in a hacking incident.

House Democrats have stood by the contractors, privately and publicly suggesting their Muslim and Pakistani heritage prompted the probe and is contributing to fear-mongering.

Wasserman Schultz as of Friday was still employing Imran Awan, 36, as an adviser, despite his access to the chamber’s computer system having been revoked.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., kept Alvi, 33, employed until about two weeks ago.

“I have seen no evidence that they were doing anything that was nefarious,” he told Politico. “I wanted to be sure individuals are not being singled out because of their nationalities or their religion.”

But other troubling allegations have surfaced.

Police in January were called to the northern Virginia home of a woman identified in the incident report as the stepmother of the Awan brothers, as first reported by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The woman alleged the brothers were keeping her away from her dying husband.

Abid Awan told police her bedside visits were causing their father additional stress and that he had full power of attorney over him, then produced “an unsigned, undated document as proof.”

A family member told a foundation reporter that the stepsons had kept the women in a “sort of illegal captivity” from October 2016 apparently until their father’s death in early February in a plot to get his life-insurance money. And they threatened her in an effort to get money that their father had stashed in Pakistan, the family member said.

The Daily Caller story said the stepmother has filed a separate police complaint alleging insurance fraud.

According to LegiStorm.com, which tracks congressional pay, the contractors’ Capitol Hill work started in 2004 with at least two making six-figure salaries, including Abid Awan last year earning $166,944.

But Awan also had money troubles, contributing to concerns about the contractors' access to sensitive emails and how that could be used. Awan declared bankruptcy in 2012 with more than $1.1 million in debt.

Court documents show the debt included roughly $51,150 to the Congressional Credit Union, for two cars and a credit line. And Virginia court records show he has had 19 violations since 2009, mostly traffic-related offenses.

Database searches found no major criminal charges for any of the contractors allegedly under investigation.

The contractors could not be reached for comment.

[Ryan Ruck]

Some big updates in this story in the last couple days...

FBI Seized Smashed Hard Drives From Wasserman Schultz IT Aide’s Home

July 23, 2017

FBI agents seized smashed computer hard drives from the home of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s information technology (IT) administrator, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Pakistani-born Imran Awan, long-time right-hand IT aide to the former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman, has since desperately tried to get the hard drives back, an individual whom FBI investigators interviewed in the case told The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.

An additional source in Congress with direct knowledge of the case, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, confirmed that the FBI has joined what Politico previously described as a Capitol Police criminal probe into “serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network” by Imran and three of his relatives, who had access to the emails and files of the more than two dozen House Democrats who employed them on a part-time basis.

Capitol Police have also seized computer equipment tied to the Florida lawmaker.

Awan’s younger brothers, Abid and Jamal, his wife, Hina Alvi, and Rao Abbas, Imran’s best friend, are also under investigation. There have been no arrests in the case.

There is also evidence of financial schemes that extend beyond the Capitol Police’s purview and may expand to Pakistan, where Imran spends significant portions of the year.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said in March that the Capitol Police are “getting the kind of technical assistance they need to do that. This is under an active criminal investigation, their capabilities are pretty strong but, they’re also able to go and get the kind of help they need from other sources.”

The brothers’ stepmother independently filed court documents in Virginia accusing the brothers of wiretapping and extorting her.

Soon after Imran began working for Wasserman Schultz in 2005, his two brothers and two of their wives — plus Abbas and another friend — began appearing as IT staffers on the payrolls of other House Democrats. Collectively, the Awan group has been paid $4 million since 2009.

Fellow IT staffers TheDCNF interviewed said the Awans were often absent from weekly meetings and email exchanges. One of the fellow staffers said some of the computers the Awans managed were being used to transfer data to an off-site server.

Shortly after the criminal probe was revealed in February, Imran abruptly moved out of his longtime home on Hawkshead Drive in Lorton, Va., and listed it for rent on a website that connects landlords with military families.

One of the new tenants — a Marine Corps veteran married to a female Navy Officer — said he found “wireless routers, hard drives that look like they tried to destroy, laptops, [and] a lot of brand new expensive toner.”

The tenants called the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and, not long after, FBI agents arrived together with the Capitol Police to interview them and confiscate the equipment. The Marine spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns for his wife’s naval career, saying she doesn’t want to be associated with a national security incident.

“It was in the garage. They recycled cabinets and lined them along the walls. They left in a huge hurry,” the Marine said. “It looks like government-issued equipment. We turned that stuff over.”

Wasserman Schultz resigned as DNC chief in July 2016 after the committee’s IT system was hacked. She has since refused to fire Imran despite learning that he is a target of a criminal investigation.

The Marine said Imran wanted the hard drives back so desperately that he threatened to sue the renter for stealing them.

“It was unbelievable. I don’t know where they get off thinking they’re going to sue us for items we have no obligation to hold onto,” he said.

Imran came to the house for the items “three to four times,” but the Marine wouldn’t let him enter.

“Their lawyer contacted us today via email and said we owed $350 in late charges and the items he left in the house,” the Marine said.

The Marine heard about the House investigation on the radio, and by that time, he had noticed other bizarre signs of desperation from his landlord.

“When we first moved in, a mailman came with certified mail from the House of Representatives. We were trying to be nice and signed for it. They lost their shit, saying ‘why did you sign for it, this is illegal!’ It was certified from the [Chief Administrative Officer of the House],” he said.

“The postman came a second time with a certified letter and I called Imran on the spot, asking ‘what do you want me to do.’ He said ‘just send him away, I’m homeless.’ They refused to forward their mail.”

Imran’s brother Abid has also been evasive about his location, failing to provide an accurate address for delivery of court materials in a lawsuit in which he is accused of defrauding the brothers’ stepmother. Imran’s wife, Hina, has traveled to Pakistan since the probe was revealed, according to neighbors.

Wasserman Schultz has demanded return of a laptop seized by the Capitol Police because it was purportedly used by Imran and was found hidden in a vacant office. The Florida Democrat used a Capitol Police budget hearing to threaten “consequences” for them if the laptop wasn’t returned.

On Thursday it was reported that police have not examined its contents because of the invocation of the Constitution’s “Speech and Debate clause,” and after months of refusal, her lawyer is now “negotiating” access to the data on yet-to-be-determined terms.

Members have been unusually mum about the apparent cybersecurity breach, especially given the pattern of cyberattacks on other government and political institutions.

The Marine expressed disgust with the muted reaction, saying “I served in the Marine Corps for 14 years; if I downloaded files to an offsite server, I’m going to prison for a lot of years.”

He implied he’s a Democrat but said when it comes to national security “political ideology doesn’t matter.”

He believes “there’s no way they could get this far without help” from some of the Democratic members of Congress for whom the brothers worked. Other Democrats have ignored a major security breach because it could look like a “black eye” in that they failed to vet the Pakistanis, he said.

“He’s dangerous. This is a crime syndicate that has successfully infiltrated Congress,” he said.

“If Donald Trump and the Republicans had hired foreign nationals to be their top IT guys and somehow their congressional files had been compromised, this would have been all over the news,” he continued.

A Bureau spokesman said the “FBI does not have anything to provide on this and I will still have to refer you to [Capitol Police] for any public comment.”

[Ryan Ruck]

Debbie Wasserman Schultz IT Staffer Arrested, Charged With Bank Fraud

July 25, 2017

An IT staffer for Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) was arrested for bank fraud Monday night while trying to flee the country.

The Daily Caller reported Monday that the FBI had seized smashed hard drives from Awan's home. Fox News' Chad Pergram reports that Awan was apprehended at Dulles Airport later that night.

Feds/USCP bust Hse IT staffer Imran Awan & charge him with multiple counts of bank fraud as part of Hse IT procurement scandal

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 25, 2017

Feds/USCP picked up Imran Awan at Dulles Aiport last night as he was "trying to leave the country." Has been arraigned. Surrendered passport

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 25, 2017

Awan had been at center of scandal where he allegedly double charged Hse for IT equipment & may have exposed Hse info online

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 25, 2017

Fox is told that Hse IT staffer Imran Awan is still on Hse payroll for moment under Wasserman Schultz.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 25, 2017

Politico reported in March that Imran Awan was one of five House contractors under investigation for "stealing equipment from members’ offices without their knowledge" and "committing serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network."

Despite the allegations against Awan and despite his congressional IT privileges being revoked, Wasserman Schultz continued to employ him. Fox News reported that Democrats were publicly and privately standing behind the accused staffers, arguing that "their Muslim and Pakistani heritage prompted the probe and is contributing to fear-mongering."

In May, Wasserman Schultz demanded the Capitol Police return a laptop being held in connection with the investigation. "I think you're violating the rules when you conduct your business that way," she told the U.S. Capitol Police chief, "and should expect that there would be consequences."

[Ryan Ruck]

Feds Arrest IT Staffer For Wasserman Schultz Trying To Leave Country

July 25, 2017

A House IT staffer at the center of a congressional computer equipment scandal has been arrested by federal officials and charged with bank fraud, Fox News has learned.

Fox News is told officers and agents from the U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI and Customs and Border Protection were involved in the arrest of Imran Awan at Dulles International Airport.

Awan, 37, of Virginia, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of bank fraud during his arraignment in federal court in Washington, D.C. He was released but will have to wear a GPS monitor and abide by a curfew.

Awan also was ordered to turn over all his passports. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21.

Law enforcements authorities for months have been looking into how Awan may have double-billed the House for equipment like computers, iPads, monitors, keyboards and routers. Several relatives of Awan worked for House Democrats and were fired months ago. Awan, however, was kept on staff by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., even though he was no longer allowed access to the House server network.

Wasserman Schultz, though, has now fired Awan. Spokesman David Damron said Tuesday in a statement:

"Mr. Awan previously served as a part-time employee but his services have been terminated. No charges, evidence or findings from the investigation have been formally shared with our office, so we cannot comment on them."

Authorities also have looked into IT workers putting sensitive House information on the “cloud” and potentially exposing it to outside sources.

Fox News is told that federal officials arrested Awan at Dulles airport in suburban Virginia as he was “trying to leave the country.”

The criminal complaint and affidavit said he had bought a ticket to fly Monday to Doha, Qatar, and then Lahore, Pakistan, with a return flight booked for early January. The affidavit specifically alleged he engaged in a scheme to defraud a Congressional Federal Credit Union. It did not appear to go in depth into the other matters investigators have been looking into.

Meanwhile, the counsel for Wasserman Schultz, the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, recently began negotiating with Capitol Police for access to her laptop in the case. Until this point, she had resisted USCP efforts to look at her computer – even suggesting “consequences” for the agency if the computer was not promptly returned.

Fox News first reported last week that arrests were coming in the case.

Awan and his relatives worked for House Democrats for more than a decade, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars. But Awan declared bankruptcy in 2012.

Awan is of Pakistani descent, and Democratic sources have argued the family’s ethnicity is a factor in the attention they’re receiving.

[American Patriot]

Now, to get Wasserman German Nazi bitch.

[Ryan Ruck]

LOL!

From Awan's attorney...

[Ryan Ruck]

Ronna Romney McDaniel: Debbie Wasserman Schultz Must Testify Before Congress on IT Staffer

July 26, 2017

Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), is calling on former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) to testify before Congress on her now-arrested, just-fired IT staffer.

McDaniel made the explosive demand in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News via phone on Wednesday afternoon, after news broke Tuesday night that Wasserman Schultz’s IT staffer for more than a decade was caught trying to flee the country by federal law enforcement agents after wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars to Pakistan.

“I think Congress needs to open an investigation into what this staffer had access to, to figure out what information he had on the hard drives he took a hammer to, why he was fleeing the country,” McDaniel told Breitbart News. “There are just so many questions with this individual and his family members who received over $4 million of taxpayer money between 2005 and 2009. We need to get to the bottom of it. It’s very sad that the mainstream media is not talking about this at all. It shows the bias.”

McDaniel specifically called on Wasserman Schultz to be willing to testify before a congressional committee on her knowledge of the matter. It’s unclear if the Florida congresswoman and former party chief—who stepped down at the Democratic National Convention last summer in Philadelphia amid leaks of DNC emails—would be willing to testify. Her spokesman David Damron has not responded to a request for comment when asked if she would be willing to cooperate with an investigation by Congress and testify before a panel about this matter.

“Debbie Wasserman Schultz absolutely needs to testify and explain why this individual was on taxpayer-funded payroll until yesterday, as he was fleeing the country, on top of the fact that they had removed his access to congressional computers in February,” McDaniel said. “So she knew he was under investigation, she knew something was wrong, and she kept him on payroll. So we need to figure out what she knew, why she was protecting this person, and figure out what he did with important government information.”

Federal agents picked up Imran Awan, the Pakistani-born IT vendor for Wasserman Schultz, at the airport attempting to flee the country on Tuesday night. He had just wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to Pakistan in his effort to escape scrutiny. He has been under investigation for some time. The staffer was on Wasserman Schultz’s payroll since 2004 until Tuesday night and was not fired until after he was arrested in an attempt to flee the country.

McDaniel is worried that Awan may have had access to information that not only put America’s national security at risk but may also be relevant to the Russia investigation—something Democrats are not cooperating with anymore.

“Well, first of all, Debbie Wasserman Schultz said when the DNC was hacked that she was going to have her IT guy come and look at what happened,” McDaniel told Breitbart News. “So, we need to figure out what access he had to the DNC servers, what access he had to her personal servers and computers, did she have separate devices for the DNC and her personal and her congressional? We need to have a full big picture as to what access this individual had not just to the congressional but also to the DNC servers.”

McDaniel is also worried about other Democrats—staffers and House and Senate members alike—with whom Awan may have been in contact. She’s calling on all of them to come forward and address this situation transparently now and testify before the relevant committees.

“They should testify to help clear all this up,” McDaniel said. “Let’s look at it, Matt. You have Jared Kushner putting out a statement two days ago and being transparent and compliant with the Senate investigation and the congressional investigation, with bipartisan congress members coming out and saying he did a great job being forthcoming. You have Don, Jr., saying he’s going to comply. You’re seeing Republicans from the Trump administration say ‘we’re going to work with Congress on every aspect of Russia collusion and get to the bottom of it.’ Then you have the Democrat party. They have not turned over their server. They have this individual now trying to flee the country who had access to we don’t know what, certainly the congressional servers and potentially the DNC information, and you don’t hear anything from the Democrat party. So which is it? Do they want to get to the bottom of what happened or do they only want to have a witch hunt against Republicans?”

McDaniel added that Democrats like Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) should be concerned about these revelations and actually begin investigating them rather than spending all their time on television shows making political attacks against President Trump.

“The Democrats are obstructing at every turn,” McDaniel said. “Debbie Wasserman Schultz has obstructed at every turn and protected this staffer even to the point where she threatened a Capitol Hill police officer. There’s something that is curious about their behavior and we need to investigate it and figure out what is happening with the Democrat Party. What is interesting is you see Adam Schiff running for every TV camera—he has done 14 hours of interviews—why doesn’t he focus on his own party and get some answers from them with regards to what they knew with regards to the DNC hack and now this IT person working for Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and see what access he had to those computers and that information?”

[Ryan Ruck]

Wasserman Schultz’s Ex-IT Guy Prompts Talk Of ‘Treason’

July 27, 2017

It’s hard at this point to know which is the worse affront to the American people — the fact that a Pakistani-born man, Imran Awan, with substantial access to congressional computer files was just arrested at the airport, while trying to flee the months-long gaze of the FBI’s eyes, or that Debbie Wasserman Schultz didn’t fire the guy until this week.

My vote? The latter. A saboteur is bad. But a Democratic Party leader sheltering a saboteur would be worse — far worse.

Who knows what coverups, what national security risks, have gone forth?

“I think this could be an enormous act of treason with a lot of people complicit,” said radio host and former Red Sox great Curt Schilling, during discussion of the arrest of Awan, former information technology consultant for Wasserman Schultz, and for several Democratic members of Congress.

Awan, who’s been reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation as under FBI investigation since at least February for various financial scandals tied to his position in Congress, was arrested this week at Dulles airport, trying to flee to Pakistan via Qatar, just hours after he made a questionable transfer of roughly $300,000 to an overseas bank account he could access.

And that arrest came after the FBI seized a couple of smashed computer hard drives from his home.

And that came after Awan, who served with his two brothers in part-time capacities in the House for eight years, reportedly collected about $4 million in taxpayer salaries for their services — a heck of a draw for positions that weren’t even full-time.

Rep. Steve King of Iowa put it bluntly: The money’s one thing. But what about the national security risk?

“They had access to the information on the multiple clients that they had,” King told Schilling, Breitbart reported. “They would have had access to all the information that came through all those computers in all those offices and access to … all the communications of the foreign affairs committee.”

That’s when Schilling made his “treason” quip.

It’s too early to tell at this point what the national security dangers from Awan’s role with the Democrats are, and where the trail — the trail of smashed computer hard drives — will lead. But one red flag rises high. Wasserman Schultz’s failure to fire Awan months ago is a dereliction of duty to the American people — a failure to side with caution. And that alone prompts even more suspicions and red flag risings.

[Ryan Ruck]

Establishment Media Refuse To Cover House IT Scandal Rocking Democrats

July 27, 2017

Leading members of the establishment media are ignoring the months-long House IT scandal rocking congressional Democrats, even after the FBI’s investigation into the matter became public, and even after Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s top IT aide was arrested trying to flee to Pakistan after wiring almost $300,000 to the country.

As of Thursday morning, both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have yet to report on the growing scandal surrounding several IT staffers employed by House Democrats, including Wasserman Schultz’s top IT aide, Imran Awan.

Other establishment media outlets are similarly refusing to tell the public about the growing scandal. MSNBC has given zero on-air coverage to the scandal. ABC News and NBC News’ national broadcasts have similarly given zero coverage to the scandal. CNN’s only on-air coverage of the scandal so far was a brief mention during the 6 a.m. ET hour Thursday.

As reported by The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Luke Rosiak — who for months has extensively covered the growing scandal — Awan was arrested on Monday as he attempted to flee the country to Pakistan after wiring almost $300,000 to the country. The FBI seized smashed hard drives from Awan’s home as part of the ongoing investigation.

The Pakistani-born Awan attempted to flee the country shortly after Rosiak’s report that he was the subject of an FBI investigation. Awan’s wife, who was also on congressional Democrats’ payroll, previously fled to Pakistan, as first reported by Rosiak.

Awan and members of his family received $4 million from the Democratic congressmen they were working for since 2010. Wasserman Schultz has been especially uncooperative with the probe into her staffers and even threatened the Capitol Police chief for gathering evidence. She refused to fire Awan until after he was arrested, even though Capitol Police had already revoked the Awans’ access to the congressional IT system in February 2017 in relation to a major security breach.

Current House IT aids fear the suspects are blackmailing Democratic members of Congress with their own data, based on the Democratic members’ inexplicable loyalty to the House IT staffers involved in the probe.

Despite the growing scandal, the establishment media has for months done its best to keep the public in the dark. That trend continued this week, even after Rosiak reported the existence of the FBI investigation, and even after Awan — a top Democratic staffer — was arrested trying to flee the country to Pakistan.

The Washington Post — whose motto is “Democracy dies in darkness” — kept its readers in the dark for months about the growing scandal. The Post published its first article on the House IT scandal Wednesday afternoon, noting Awan’s arrest for bank fraud.

For comparison, Rosiak has written more than 20 news stories on the scandal.

[Ryan Ruck]

So... Did Wasserman-Schultz and other Hill Dems directly or indirectly help finance Hezbollah through the Awans?

This piece has just come out from Politico and details how Hezbollah secured funding through vehicle laundering schemes, among other things.

Now, I'd like to repost a section from the piece vector posted above about the Awans very odd activity with used car dealerships...

By 2009, the family was simultaneously managing a full-time car dealership in Virginia, with Abid running day-to-day operations after contributing $250,000 in startup cash. It was called Cars International A, LLC, referred to as “CIA” in court documents.

Imran boasted unusual clout among House Democrats, and was even pictured conversing with former President Bill Clinton. After Rao Abbas, who was owed money by the dealership, threatened to sue amid allegations of deception and theft, Abbas appeared on the congressional payroll and received $250,000 in taxpayer payments.

Abid had “100% control” of the dealership, a one-time business partner said in court documents, in addition to his $165,000-a-year job working full-time for multiple representatives, including Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan and California Democrat Jim Costa.


“He had the dealer license and sole responsibility of running it.

Abid would put cars on the lot, take them in consignment, sell them, do all the title work and get money from the retail sale,” according to court documents. Multiple emails show the Awan brothers conducting business such as attending car auctions on weekdays.

“Imram later acted as owner since CIA was considered family business by the Awans,” Abid’s one-time business partner, Nasir Khattak, said in court documents. The car dealership’s finances consisted of byzantine transfers in which staff and cars were often swapped between it and a dealership next door, Khattak said.

Despite numerous family members making $160,000 congressional salaries, debts went unpaid by the brothers, including to the Congressional Federal Credit Union.

“It was very bad record-keeping in Cars International … it is close to impossible to make any sense out of all the transactions that happened,” Khattak said in court documents.

The $100,000 loan came as the dealership continued to rack up debt, court records show.

“Ali Al-Attar was out of the country as he was involved in politics and the formation of the Iraqi government,” Khattak said in court documents.

[Ryan Ruck]

Trump Draws Attention To Case Against Ex-Dem IT Aide Imran Awan

December 29, 2017

President Trump is drawing attention to the mysterious federal court case against Imran Awan, the former IT aide to a number of congressional Democrats, including former Democratic National Committee chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“Whatever happened to this Pakistani guy who worked with the DNC?” the president asked in an interview published Thursday by the New York Times.

A grand jury in August returned an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charging Awan and his wife, Hina Alvi, with a total of four counts, which included federal bank fraud and conspiracy. Awan has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

“Whatever happened to them?” Trump continued. “With the two servers that they broke up into a million pieces? Whatever happened to him?”

The president brought up the case while denying any collusion between his campaign and the Russians during the 2016 election.

Awan has not been charged with anything specific to his IT duties in Congress. But the case has drawn interest from Republican lawmakers because of Awan’s role for prominent Democrats and the access he had to sensitive data.

Awan and other IT aides for House Democrats had been on investigators’ radar for months over concerns of alleged equipment theft, access to sensitive computer systems and more, according to reports dating back to early 2017.

Awan and his wife are facing allegations they engaged in a conspiracy to obtain home equity lines of credit from the Congressional Federal Credit Union by giving false information about two properties – and sending the proceeds to individuals in Pakistan.

Awan was born in Pakistan, but came to the U.S. with his family when he was a teenager, according to The Washington Post. He became a U.S. citizen more than a decade ago.

The broader case surrounding him has put renewed scrutiny on Wasserman Schultz for keeping Awan on the payroll for months, even after a criminal investigation was revealed and he was barred from the House IT network.

Most lawmakers fired Awan in February, but Wasserman Schultz had kept him on until his arrest in July.

Earlier this month, prosecutors warned that Awan is a “flight risk” and could flee to Pakistan if a judge approves his request to lift “all of the conditions of his release.”

U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu filed a motion before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, urging the court to deny the request from Awan.

Awan is currently enrolled in the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) with conditions that he abide by an electronically monitored curfew of 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. and a limit on traveling beyond 150 miles from his residence, according to court documents. Awan and his attorney want to lift those conditions, including the electronic monitoring bracelet.

Federal prosecutors warned this could give Awan an opening.

“While the government possesses Awan’s Pakistani passport, nothing prevents him from obtaining a new Pakistani passport at the Embassy in D.C. That passport would permit Awan to board a flight and leave the country at any time,” the motion read. “The government asserts that Awan is a flight risk and that his participation in HISP is by far the least restrictive condition that can be imposed on him to ensure his return to Court.”

Wasserman Schultz has blamed the “right-wing media circus fringe” for the attention on Awan.

In an interview published in the Sun Sentinel in August, the former head of the Democratic National Committee suggested it's all part of an effort to distract from the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and possible ties to President Trump's team.