{"id":78718,"date":"2017-07-25T06:45:30","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T10:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=78718"},"modified":"2017-07-25T06:47:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T10:47:44","slug":"fbi-seized-smashed-hard-drives-from-wasserman-schultz-it-aides-home-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=78718","title":{"rendered":"FBI Seized Smashed Hard Drives From Wasserman Schultz IT Aide\u2019s Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUKE ROSIAK
\nThe Daily Caller<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz promised “consequences” for Capitol Police chief investigation her IT staffer suspected of House data breach.<\/p><\/div>\n

FBI agents seized smashed computer hard drives from the home of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz\u2019s information technology (IT) administrator, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0individual whom FBI investigators interviewed in the case told The Daily Caller News Foundation\u2019s Investigative Group.<\/p>\n

An additional\u00a0source 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\u00a0Politico<\/a>\u00a0previously described as a Capitol Police criminal probe into\u00a0\u201cserious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Capitol Police have also seized computer equipment tied to the Florida lawmaker.<\/p>\n

Awan\u2019s younger brothers, Abid and Jamal, his wife, Hina Alvi, and Rao Abbas, Imran\u2019s best friend, are also under investigation. There have been no arrests in the case.<\/p>\n

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Completing this poll entitles you to Daily Caller news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our\u00a0Privacy Policy<\/a>\u00a0andTerms of Use<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n

There is also evidence of\u00a0financial schemes<\/a>\u00a0that extend beyond the Capitol Police\u2019s purview and may expand to Pakistan, where Imran spends significant portions of the\u00a0year.<\/p>\n

Speaker of the House\u00a0Paul Ryan\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in March that\u00a0the Capitol Police are \u201cgetting the kind of technical assistance they need to do that.\u00a0This is under an active criminal investigation, their capabilities are pretty strong but, they\u2019re also able to go and get the kind of help they need from other sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brothers\u2019 stepmother independently filed\u00a0court documents<\/a>\u00a0in Virginia accusing the brothers of\u00a0wiretapping and extorting<\/a>\u00a0her.<\/p>\n

Soon after Imran began working for Wasserman Schultz in 2005, his\u00a0two brothers and two of their wives \u2014 plus Abbas and another friend \u2014 began appearing as IT staffers on the payrolls of other House Democrats. Collectively, the Awan group has been paid\u00a0$4 million<\/a>\u00a0since 2009.<\/p>\n

Fellow IT staffers TheDCNF interviewed said the Awans were often absent from weekly meetings and email exchanges.\u00a0One of the fellow staffers said some of the computers the Awans managed were being used to transfer data to an off-site server.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the criminal probe was revealed in February, Imran abruptly moved out of his longtime home on Hawkshead Drive\u00a0in Lorton, Va., and listed it for rent on a website that connects landlords with military families.<\/p>\n

One of the new tenants \u2014 a Marine Corps veteran married to a female Navy Officer \u2014 said he found \u201cwireless routers, hard drives that look like they tried to destroy, laptops, [and] a lot of brand new expensive toner.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s naval career, saying she doesn\u2019t want to be associated with a national security incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was in the garage. They recycled cabinets and lined them along the walls. They left in a huge hurry,\u201d the Marine said. \u201cIt looks like government-issued equipment. We turned that stuff over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wasserman Schultz resigned as DNC chief in July 2016 after the committee\u2019s IT system was hacked. She has since refused to fire Imran despite learning that he is a target of a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

The Marine\u00a0said Imran wanted the hard drives back so desperately that he threatened to sue the renter for stealing them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unbelievable. I don\u2019t know where they get off thinking they\u2019re going to sue us for items we have no obligation to hold onto,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Imran came to the house for the items \u201cthree to four times,\u201d but the Marine wouldn\u2019t let him enter.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir lawyer contacted us today via email and said we owed $350 in late charges and the items he left in the house,\u201d the Marine said.<\/p>\n

The Marine heard about the House investigation on the radio, and\u00a0by that time, he had noticed other bizarre signs of desperation from his landlord.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 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 \u2018why did you sign for it, this is illegal!\u2019 It was certified from the [Chief Administrative Officer of the House],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe postman came a second time with a certified letter and I called Imran on the spot, asking \u2018what do you want me to do.\u2019 He said \u2018just send him away, I\u2019m homeless.\u2019 They refused to forward their mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imran\u2019s 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\u2019 stepmother. Imran\u2019s wife, Hina, has traveled to Pakistan since the probe was revealed, according to neighbors.<\/p>\n

Wasserman Schultz has demanded return of a laptop seized by the Capitol Police because it was purportedly used by Imran and was found hidden\u00a0in a vacant office. The Florida Democrat used a Capitol Police budget hearing to threaten\u00a0\u201cconsequences\u201d<\/a>\u00a0for them if the laptop wasn\u2019t returned.<\/p>\n

On Thursday it was reported that police have not examined its\u00a0contents because of the invocation of the Constitution\u2019s \u201cSpeech and Debate clause,\u201d and after months of refusal, her lawyer is now\u00a0\u201cnegotiating\u201d<\/a>\u00a0access to the data on yet-to-be-determined terms.<\/p>\n

Members have been\u00a0unusually mum<\/a>\u00a0about the apparent cybersecurity breach, especially given the\u00a0pattern of\u00a0cyberattacks on other government and political institutions.<\/p>\n

The Marine expressed disgust with the muted reaction, saying \u201cI served in the Marine Corps for 14 years; if I downloaded files to an offsite server, I\u2019m going to prison for a lot of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

He implied he\u2019s a Democrat but said when it comes to national security \u201cpolitical ideology doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u00a0believes\u00a0\u201cthere\u2019s no way they could get this far without help\u201d 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 \u201cblack eye\u201d in that they failed to vet the Pakistanis, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s dangerous. This is a crime syndicate that has successfully infiltrated Congress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0Bureau spokesman said the \u201cFBI does not have anything to provide on this and I will still have to refer you to [Capitol Police]\u00a0for any public comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

___
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