On Sunday evening, The Daily Caller broke the story that former Democratic National Chairman and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's information technology (IT) administrator was under FBI investigation.
Imran Awan, who was born in Pakistan, reportedly had several smashed hard drives seized by the FBI in connection to a "serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network." Awan, his two younger brothers Abid and Jamal, his wife, Hina Alvi, and his friend, Rao Abbas, are also under investigation. The group of immigrants began working as IT staffers for House Democrats around 2005.
Two days after the story, Awan was arrested while trying to leave the country from Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. He had just before wired $283,000 to Pakistan. His wife, who was traveling with $12,000 cash, was allowed to leave the country.
Wasserman Schultz has refused to comment on the case. Awan's attorney, Chris Gowen, maintains Awan's innocence and told Politico, "This is clearly a right-wing media-driven prosecution by a United States Attorney's Office that wants to prosecute people for working while Muslim."
Awan was fired from his job with House Democrats in March but has remained on Wasserman Schultz's payroll. He is now being charged with bank fraud.
This is certainly not the first time Wasserman Schultz's career has been intertwined with scandal. A year ago, as DNC chairman, leaked emails suggested that she was giving unfair preference to Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination. The scandal caused Wasserman Schultz to resign as DNC chairman right before the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Because of this and the silence of other House democrats who have worked with Awan and his cohorts, there is speculation that they are being blackmailed by the contents of the confiscated hard drives.
Awan was reportedly fired on Tuesday.
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