In an outrageous but not wholly unexpected move, former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz gave a full-throated defense of IT staffer Imran Awan, who was recently arrested trying to flee the country.
The Congresswoman, despite evidence that Awan had wired $300,000 to Pakistan, despite charges for bank fraud, and despite being banned from House networks, said she “did the right thing” by keeping him on the payroll and “would do it again.”
Wasserman Schultz believes Awan was targeted because of his religion. He is Muslim.
On not firing Awan, she said “there were racial and ethnic profiling concerns that I had.”
Criminality, it seems, is okay with the congresswoman, because he’s Muslim and can therefore not be investigated. That’s essentially what she’s claiming.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Awan: “I did the right thing, and I would do it again – It would have been easier for me to just fire him” pic.twitter.com/XeSVeybfXf
— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) August 3, 2017
Via the Orlando Sentinel:
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz defiantly stands by her decision to keep an information technology aide on her payroll for six months after he was banned from the House network and fired by other members of Congress.
“I believe that I did the right thing, and I would do it again,” Wasserman Schultz said Thursday in an exclusive interview with the Sun Sentinel. “There are times when you can’t be afraid to stand alone, and you have to stand up for what’s right.
…
And, she said, she believes he may have been put under scrutiny because of his religious faith. Awan is Muslim.
That is absolutely outrageous. Wasserman Schultz is essentially claiming investigators, including the Capitol police, only looked into Awan because he’s a Muslim. She’s calling them racists!
Up until his arrest, and amidst many months of ongoing investigations into Awan and his brothers for a breach of congressional computers, a probe that led the Democrat staffers to be locked out of House networks, he was still on the payroll under Wasserman Schultz.
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
As we reported in March, Awan had access to Wasserman Schultz’s iPad user name and password, and by extension had access to her DNC emails.
You know, the emails that proved she was cheating in the Democrat primary to help Hillary Clinton and hurt Bernie Sanders.
The FBI earlier this month seized smashed computer hard drives from Awan’s home, drives that the Democrat aide tried desperately to get back. Wasserman Schultz herself tried to get one of Awan’s laptops back from Capitol police who were holding it during the investigation, at one point actually threatening the chief with “consequences.”
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said in a recent press release that the “allegations levied against Imran Awan are alarming and could have serious national security ramifications.”
He urged the Department of Justice to further investigate Awan.
“The Department of Justice must work to immediately mitigate the damage done by Awan and take whatever measures are necessary, including freezing illicit funds, in order to fully investigate this incident,” DeSantis wrote.
Wasserman Schultz believes the story is being blown out of proportion by conservative media outlets as a means to distract from the current Trump/Russia collusion investigation.
“Any opportunity they can to pull people’s eyes and ears away from that they take,” she said.
Do you think Debbie Wasserman Schultz should be part of the investigation? Share your thoughts below!
Read more at the Political Insider