BREAKING: Wasserman Schultz IT Staffer Smashed Hard Drives, Arrested Trying to Flee the Country
By Tim Canova
In yet another scandal involving my opponent, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, it has been reported that just days ago, on July 23, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently seized smashed hard drives from the home of Wasserman Schultz’s long-time Congressional Information Technology (IT) staffer and close personal friend, Imran Awan.
Also breaking news: Earlier today, Imran Awan was reportedly picked up by federal authorities at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. as he was trying to leave the country, he has now been arraigned and his passport seized.
This news comes only a month after I wrote to you about how Debbie Wasserman Schultz was caught on video obstructing the investigation by threatening the Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, Matthew R. Verderosa, for doing his job in gathering evidence on the apparent criminal activity of Awan — activity that includes suspicion of stealing a wide range of computer equipment and data, massive cyber-security breaches, accessing congressional computers without permission of members of Congress, and funneling sensitive congressional data offsite — all serious felonies, possibly related to blackmail and extortion, and for what criminal purpose or scheme, one can only imagine.
Like many others, we call on the Capitol Police, the U.S. Justice Department, and Congress to investigate these and related allegations. Meanwhile, Wasserman Schultz herself has dragged her feet for months by refusing to cooperate with the investigation and even obstructing investigators.
We also have some idea of Awan’s close relationship with Wasserman Schultz from the DNC emails released by Wikileaks. One DNC email from Wasserman Schultz’s DNC assistant, Amy Kroll, in May 2016 noted, “I do not have access to her iPad password, but Imran does.” In another email in the same chain, Kroll wrote, “Just spoke to Imran, call me whenever GB and I’ll update you, don’t delete anything yet.”
One year ago today, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign as chair of the Democratic National Committee, and that came after many weeks of me publicly calling on her to resign. I take no pleasure in providing today’s update. I have also been calling on Wasserman Schultz to resign from her House seat and I have pointed out the obvious — that as long as she’s in public life, the Democratic Party will flounder and the people of South Florida will be ill served in Congress.
Yet, instead of resigning from Congress, Wasserman Schultz has built up a big war chest of campaign contributions from the largest and most predatory corporations in the country. It’s much more difficult to raise money the way our campaign is committed to doing — in small donations from grassroots supporters. Many of our supporters are not focusing on the 2018 mid-term elections. But Wasserman Schultz’s corporate benefactors are not waiting, they are already pouring money into her campaign coffers.
Your support means everything, now more than ever. We must not give up on our fight for progressive values, and I thank you for continuing to provide our campaign with the support it needs to win.
