Just another Wasserman Schultz Scandal

Last Monday, Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s congressional information technology staffer, Imran Awan, was arrested at Washington Dulles International Airport by FBI agents before fleeing the U.S. for Pakistan. While Awan was accused of bank fraud for $283,000, a serious felony offense, it may be the least serious crime he has committed.

Awan began his congressional IT work in 2004 for New York Congressman Gregory Meeks before being hired the next year by Wasserman Schultz. Not only was Awan hired after being charged with a DUI a month prior and a public drunkenness charge after a month on the job (offenses that would easily preclude one from working as a congressional staffer), but he was paid four times the $40,000 salary a staffer usually receives. He also managed to put his wife, two brothers and sister-in-law on the congressional payroll during his tenure, with his youngest brother earning more than $100,000 at 20 years old.

While being employed full time by Wasserman Schultz, Awan ran a car dealership, “Cars International A” (CIA), which he bankrupted after stealing merchandise. He and his wife had also been accused of life insurance fraud and extortion. In normal circumstances, these offenses would prompt termination, especially for an IT staffer who earns four times what he should.

During his 13-year-tenure (12 of those with Wasserman Schultz), Awan had access to nearly every computer in Congress via its computer network, including those on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committee, which possess invaluable information regarding U.S. national security. According to investigators, Awan stole computer equipment, transferred files to external servers and accessed the congressional network without any superior’s knowledge (except possibly Wasserman Schultz’s). He went 12 years without raising any eyebrows.

The FBI began investigating the Awans in October 2016. They remained on the congressional payroll. On Jan. 18, Awan, well aware of the FBI activity, defrauded the Congressional Federal Credit Union out of $283,000. Those funds were wired directly to Pakistan. On Feb. 28, all family members, other than Awan and his wife, were fired. Surprisingly, both Awan and his wife, Alvi, remained on Wasserman Schultz’s payroll, despite being unable to perform their jobs (their access to the Capitol computer network was terminated months prior). Wasserman Schultz claimed they were only investigated because of “Islamophobia” and refused to acknowledge the criminal investigation. She continued to abet the family, including supplying them a laptop with access to the Capitol network, demanding the return of this same laptop after it was found by federal investigators, invoking a constitutional privilege to keep them from searching the laptop and even threatening Capitol Police.

Alvi fled the country with the family’s three daughters March 3. Despite being accosted by the FBI, she was allowed to fly to Pakistan with $12,400, without a currency transportation report (which are required with cash transportations of more than $10,000). The FBI knew she would not be returning to the U.S. and inexplicably let her go. Unfortunately for the Awans, and fortunately for U.S. citizens, Awan was unable to do the same.

Awan was still receiving his taxpayer-funded salary when he was arrested last Monday.  Altogether, the family was able to “earn” upwards of 4 million taxpayer dollars over their 13 years of “employment.”  While investigators are trying to get around Wasserman Schultz’s attempts to stall the investigation, her behavior begs the question of why she would go through so much to help the Awan family. What does a congresswoman as powerful as former Democratic Party Chair Wasserman Schultz have to gain from supporting and defending a lowly IT staffer?

Unfortunately for the American people, as long as the media remains focused on the baseless Russia collusion story, we may never know why Wasserman Schultz behaved the way she did. When considering their questionable past and association with corrupt public officials, it seems obvious that the Awans were, at best, up to something malicious. At worst, they may have undermined American national security.

 

Jack Story is a UF graduate. His column appears on Tuesdays.