RUTHFULLY YOURS

I wrote about this strange case in early February.

Imran Awan and his two brothers, Jamal and Abid, are at the center of an investigation that deals with, among other things, allegations of illegal access.  They have been barred from the House of Representatives network.

A member of Congress expressed concern that, “they may have stolen data from us.”

All three of the Pakistani brothers had been employed by Democrats. The offices that employed them included HPSCI minority members Speier, Carson and Joaquín Castro. Congressman Castro, who also sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, utilized the services of Jamal Moiz Awan. Speier and Carson’s offices utilized Imran Awan.

Why were the Awan brothers, one of whom had a criminal record, even allowed to work in such a sensitive position? How did the personnel suspected in this case pass background checks? And was any classified information compromised as a result of these alleged breaches?

These questions and more must be asked and answered. But they are only the first of many questions.

The Awans were employed by Democrats on very sensitive committees. There is a fuller listing at the link above. But suffice it to say some of these are very sensitive committees.

Now Luke Rosiak at the Daily Caller has an update of the strange developments in this investigation.

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…

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…

Meanwhile the family was running a dealership in Virginia with some very interesting finances of its own…

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.

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

It’s unclear if Attar even existed. But it’s also very obvious that there were shady dealings here. The real question is who opened the doors for the Awan brothers, why were they allowed to use Congress as their own private piggy bank and where does the string tied to them lead?

The obvious answer is either a major family donor or another high level Muslim employee in Congress, probably family, probably working in the office of one of the members who employed them.

And beyond that there are the national security implications, the foreign ties and the question of whether any information was seized and sold. And what the damage to national security might be.