DENVER - Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette spoke with Next for the first time on Wednesday, about her former staffer who was arrested last week while fleeing the country.
DeGette says she doesn't think this IT staffer, 37-year-old Imran Awan, compromised the security of her information, or that of her constituents in Denver.
"So this is a former staffer who worked for several dozen members of Congress on a contract basis. And several months ago, some months ago, our chief of staff called together - and told us there was a criminal investigation - involving this individual. We terminated his employment because frankly he wasn't - didn't have access to the House information, so he couldn't do his job."
Awan also did work for former Democratic National Committee chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz. That's prompted all kinds of conspiracy theories about the election in conservative media. In Marshall Zelinger's interview with DeGette, our questions focused on whether Awan had access to sensitive personal information belonging to Coloradans.
DeGette did not directly answer that question.
"We don't have any information or belief that he has compromised any constituent information. And we have asked the investigators and also the House administration to please inform us if they get any information otherwise."
Awan is being held on bank fraud charges.
A conservative watchdog group is calling for a congressional investigation into why Wasserman-Schultz kept Awan on her payroll after other Reps, including DeGette, cut ties.
More of 9NEWS' interview with DeGette will air Sunday on Balance of Power.
Thanks for the ping.
Just audit her official House office and financial records, including her payroll, vouchers, expense accounts, office expenditures, travel itinerary, credit card accounts, family finances, campaign income and outgo, personal and office bank accounts, wire-transfers, snail mail, email, electronic devices, hard drives, etc etc etc.and any accounts.
BACKSTORY- It appears that DeGette's IT employee, Imran Awan, ran a theft ring out of the Democratic Congressional Caucus. This scam left a huge paper trail. If DeGette "wrote-off" tech purchases even once, she (and other Democrats who did so) are going to be nailed w/ RICO laws. B/c this is organized crime....no question.
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Here's details of the the "write-off scam that involves just ONE member.
Audits of other members means the numbers of stolen tax dollars could skyrocket.
Imran colluded w/ a viscerally stupid member of Congress to order equipment for her office; he then conspired to have the devices delivered to his home. Imran falsified official govt documents to get himself 150 tech devices from CDW, Government, Inc---the Hill's largest tech supplier.
A PROFILE IN DUMBNESS--Democrat NY Cong Yvette Clarke
unblinkingly agreed to all of this. She then approved a $120k "write-off" of the purchases thus making the money and the devices just disappear.
<><>The tax-paid devices tied to NY Democrat Cong Yvette Clarke’s office included some 150 iPhones and iPads.
<><> Priced at $800 each, Democrat Cong Clarke's $120,000 write-off would buy 150 devices.
<><> Cong Clarke's office, according to payroll records, has only 16 employees. Taxpayers might ask why Cong Clarke needed so many electronics for her small staff?
Democrat Cong Clarke's office refused to tell a reporter which staffer signed the form, and why they did not fire the Paki IT at that time, or why they did not alert authorities (not reporting knowledge of a crime IS a crime).
Taxpayers should be aware that Cong Yvette Clarke’s chief routinely called a House help desk to inquire about the write-off process but did not ever convey the highly unusual scale of the dollar figure, the official said.
Being scrutinized is a falsified invoicing scheme. The equipment Democrat Yvette Clark ordered (then wrote-off) got shipped ..... not to the Congressional office...... but to Imran’s private residence.
Taxpayers should be aware that Democrat Yvette Clark (or high-level staffer with financial responsibility in her office) would have to sign a voucher for each such purchase.
Taxpayers may undoubtedly wonder how Democrat Yvette Clark wouldn’t have noticed (A) that tech equipment was being purchased, (B) in large quantities Democrat Clarke might not plausibly need, (C) but never actually materialized at Cong Clarke's office.
NOTO BENE: The $120,000 tech equipment covers only Cong Yvette Clarke’s. The Democrats that employed the Paki IT clan have yet to be audited for similar patters. The tax dollars stolen could skyrocket.
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NOTE: anybody can file a RICO----plenty of how-to's on the net.
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ACTION NOW-—CONTACT CONGRESS:
Capitol Hill Switchboard 1-866-220-0044
Call President Trump: Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414
TALKING POINTS: Immediately launch full-scale audits of the House office budgets of Democrat DeGette, Debbie Wassermann Schultz, and all Democrat House members that employed the Awan clan.