The Ever-Burgeoning House Democrat IT Scandal

PJ Media ^ | 08/21/2017 | Rick Moran

[SeekAndFind]

We're not in John Walker territory yet, but the scandal engulfing up to 30 Democratic members of Congress who employed IT "expert" Imran Awan and four members of his family may turn out to be the worst breach of sensitive information in the history of the US Congress.

The New York Post is reporting that the scandal may involve the sale of sensitive information on congressmen as well as classified data to the Russians or others. The potential for blackmail is real, say authorities.

What started out 16 months ago as a scandal involving the alleged theft of computer equipment from Congress has turned into a national-security investigation involving FBI surveillance of the suspects.

Investigators now suspect that sensitive US government data — possibly including classified information — could have been compromised and may have been sold to hostile foreign governments that could use it to blackmail members of Congress or even put their lives at risk.

“This is a massive, massive scandal,” a senior US official familiar with the widening probe told The Post.

Alarm bells went off in April 2016 when computer security officials in the House reported “irregularities” in computer equipment purchasing. An internal investigation revealed the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in government property, and evidence pointed to five IT staffers and the Democratic Congress members’ offices that employed them.

Awan and his family have been indicted on fraud charges, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his potential crimes. The prosecutor has charged Awan with the lesser crimes so that he can put the screws to him to divulge any espionage activity.

The Democrats who hired the five suspects apparently did a poor job vetting them. Awan’s brother Abid had a rap sheet with multiple offenses, including a conviction for DWI a month before he was hired, and filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

Most had relatively little IT experience. Yet they hauled in a combined $4 million-plus over the past decade. One, a former McDonald’s worker, was suddenly making as much as a chief of staff.

“These lawmakers allowed an insider threat to come into the House,” the official charged. “Computer equipment was stolen, taxpayers were robbed of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sensitive data was compromised and possibly sold overseas.”

On Thursday, a federal grand jury indicted Imran Awan on four seemingly unrelated felony counts including bank fraud, conspiracy and making false statements. They also indicted his wife, Hina Alvi. FBI agents seized hard drives and other evidence from their Virginia home.

The indictment says the couple wired close to $300,000 in fraudulently obtained funds to Pakistan in January, as the Capitol Police investigation heated up.

FBI agents last month collared Awan, 37, at the Dulles International Airport airport as he tried to board a flight to Pakistan. Alvi, 33, fled to Pakistan in March.

Now that prosecutors have Awan hung up on the fraud charges, they will try to squeeze him harder in the larger cyberespionage investigation, according to the US official, who expects additional charges and arrests in the case.

At the center of the investigation is Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“This whole investigation pivots off Debbie Wasserman Schultz,” the official said.

“It’s clear that large bytes of data were moved off the secure network,” said another source close to the investigation, adding that Awan and the other four staffers under investigation had “full and complete access” to lawmakers’ e-mails, calendars, schedules, hearing notes, meeting notes and memos and other sensitive information.

Investigators are trying to determine if any classified information was compromised. Although the network that was breached is an unclassified system, it’s possible that members or staff cleared to handle classified information inadvertently sent such information in e-mails after getting classified briefings, sources believe.

“Logic dictates that sensitive data was compromised,” the senior official speculated. “An accused criminal with close ties to Pakistan had full and complete control over data that went out over the network.” With access to that kind of data, a foreign power could make life extremely uncomfortable for some congressmen. Even if there are no shenanigans revealed in his personal life, imagine what might be in some of those "notes" from committee hearings and private meetings.

Awan did not appear to have the tradecraft that would mark him as a trained spy (he didn't know how to totally destroy the hard drive to his laptop). But even if he's just an opportunist, the damage he could have done is hard to fathom.

Is it possible that rather than selling the information to Russia, he sold it to the Pakistani ISI? If he did, it would be as good as selling it to Al-Qaeda.

The scandal is being mostly ignored by the media. They've got far more interesting things to report. But if this investigation pans out like authorities believe, it will rock the Democrats in the House who employed this charlatan/spy.

[FirstFlaBn]

I’m sure Jeff Sessions will get right on it - as soon as someone wakes him up.

[Liz]

My $$ says that a lot of Dems hired this bunch to boost their “diversity” credentials.

You got that right.......sucking up for votes is never far from their small minds.

DEMOCRAT DIRTY THIRTY----ALL EMPLOYED THE IMRAN CLAN
Interactive at Daily Caller web site.

====================================================

(HAT TIP IAMACONSERVATIVE): Imran had control of ALL of the
Dems' Blackberrys. If the Dems were using a Blackberry Enterprise Server
(BES), and I'm betting they did, then Awan could easily have back-doored
all the classified intel, SMS (text messaging) and Email content sent
through their Blackberry's for however long he had that access.

Definitely makes Awans' blackmailing elected members a possibility.

[ChildOfThe60s]

As I said before, there are probably at least a hundred lawyers, paralegals and legal researchers frantically working this case on behalf of Imran Awan's gang. There are probably at least 50 private detectives working to research Grand Jury members, Congressmen, prosecutors and anyone else involved to get some blackmail on them or see if they can be bribed.

Bingo. You are right.

[DakotaGator]

The Democrats who hired the five suspects apparently did a poor job vetting them.

Nonsense. They knew exactly what they were getting.

[KyCats]

GITMO? The guy’s a spy!

Spies don’t relax in country clubs like Gitmo where they have all the luxuries of a Mediterranean resort. They hang by the neck until shot by a firing squad!

[Oldexpat]

In the meantime there is a complete media blackout on the scandal and even Drudge won’t mention it. Curious minds want to know more.

[thinden]

“It’s clear that large bytes of data were moved off the secure network,” said another source close to the investigation, adding that Awan and the other four staffers under investigation had “full and complete access” to lawmakers’ e-mails, calendars, schedules, hearing notes, meeting notes and memos and other sensitive information.

Investigators are trying to determine if any classified information was compromised. Although the network that was breached is an unclassified system, it’s possible that members or staff cleared to handle classified information inadvertently sent such information in e-mails after getting classified briefings, sources believe.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

so who is allegedly investigating this espionage? comey? crowd strike? sessions? mccabe? mcmasters?

[Captain Jack Aubrey]

Few Details Known About Obama’s Three Weeks in Pakistan

By Patrick Goodenough | November 3, 2008

(CNSNews.com) – As the presidential election campaign draws to a close, unanswered questions about Barack Obama’s three-week visit to Pakistan 27 years ago continue to cause unease in some quarters, but his campaign has revealed few details.

Last April during a San Francisco fundraiser, Obama referred briefly to a visit he had made to Pakistan during his college years.

Campaign press secretary Bill Burton subsequently gave inquiring journalists a few facts. Obama had visited Pakistan for “about three weeks” in 1981, after visiting his mother in Indonesia. He had traveled with a college friend whose family lived in Karachi. He had also visited Hyderabad in India, Burton said.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/few-details-known-about-obama-s-three-weeks-pakistan

[Avalon Memories]

Is a scandal still a scandal if the so-called mainstream media ignores it? Just like if a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? The answer to both rhetorical questions is a resounding yes. The only problem when Dems are engulfed in scandals is that very few of them are ever held to account. This is as caustic to our Republic as lye is to a human body.

[Liz]

APRIL 2016 THE PAKI SCAM IS UNVEILED---Alarm bells went off when House computer security officials reported “irregularities” in computer equipment purchasing......specifically, the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in US government property. The initial evidence pointed to (a) five Paki IT staffers, and, (b) Congressional Democrats that employed them.

The Paki scam quickly exploded into:

<><> (A) multiple charges of conspiracy against the United States of America,

<><>(B) double-billing Congress,

<><> (C) placing ghost employees on the govt payroll,

<><> (D) stealing govt issue electronics,

<><>(E) submitting falsified documents to the US govt,

<><> (F) mortgage scams,

<><>(G) shady wire transfers to Pakistan, and,

<><>(H) Congressional bank fraud.

[samtheman]

When is it going to burgeon over to the MSM?

[spokeshave]

“It’s clear that large bytes of data were moved off the secure network,” said another source close to the investigation, adding that Awan and the other four staffers under investigation had “full and complete access” to lawmakers’ e-mails, calendars, schedules, hearing notes, meeting notes and memos and other sensitive information.

A couple of words missing:

1. End with "for least 10 years"

2. Add a "Giga" in front of bytes.

[Lionheartusa1]

,,,,,, doesn’t this MSATTER eclipse the Russia hacking fraud ???

[Hotlanta Mike]

Logic dictates that DWS colluded with the Amrans and should be executed for treason...

[TexasGunLover]

Definitely makes Awans' blackmailing elected members a possibility.

Absolutely, and doesn't even begin to touch the amount of real damage they could have done to troops or intelligence agencies. True crime here...

[DakotaGator]

Awan did not appear to have the tradecraft that would mark him as a trained spy...

Americans always allow themselves to be confused by this "spy" concept. So here are a few items to clarify it.

A spy is an agent of an outside entity; e.g. foreign government. He is normally trained by the entity he is an agent for. And if detained, will normally be acknowledged and supported by that entity. A spy buys secrets from traitors.

A traitor sells secrets. A traitor may receive some training. But that is irrelevant to his status. The traitor is not an agent of an outside entity. He is a betrayer of the entity he legally owes loyalty to.

Awan is a traitor. So are those who knowingly employed him.

[Liz]

CONGRESS AND THE FBI NEED TO DETERMINE:

The extent of Wassermann-Schultz and the DNC's assistance to (a) House members of the intelligence panel, and, (b) members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, among the dozens of elected Democrats employing the Paki/suspects on a shared basis.

<><>Were govt intel computers ever transported off-premises?

<><>Did the FBI and/or Secret Service accompany and supervise the transport of the server?

<><> Did the three brothers have an active email account?

<><> Was there continuity of intel computer activity or did the intel computers ever go off-line?

<><> Who received govt intel?

<><>Did the three brother get officially qualified by Wasserman Schultz and the DNC to handle national-security-level data?

<><> Did the three brothers ever “upgrade, manage, and secure” the DNC server.

<><> What - specifically - did they do?

<><> Did Wasserman Schultz and the DNC vet the three brothers security clearance to handle this type of intel?

<><> What were the DNC firewall protocols in place at the time?

<><>Who, by name, had access to intel computers, and the administrative authorization to do so?

<><>When was that authorization given?

<><>Did the three brothers ever remove all data from the intel computers?

<><> Was malware or antivirus also on the server?

<><> Was the inherent firewall, virus protection, or operating system “upgraded, managed, and secured” by the brothers?

<><> Did Wasserman Schultz at the DNC report any incidents, such as DOS attack, hacking, etc.

<><> How were they resolved?

<><> Did the three brothers maintain the DNC intel computer?

<><> Does Wasserman Schultz and the DNC know if the House Permanent Intelligence Committee computers in functioning condition at this time?

<><> Does Wasserman Schultz and the DNC have the work schedule of the brothers just prior to being outed for security breaches?

<><> Were normal and regular backup procedures executed on the server?

<><> Where are the back-ups kept?

<><> If no backups were taken, does the DNC have a disaster recovery location?

<><> Where is that?

<><> Did the DNC have a backup plan if the House Permanent Intel Committee intel equipment failed or was found to have been compromised?

<><> Does Wasserman Schultz and the DNC have a list of other foreign nationals (from countries President Obama identified as terrorist countries) Democrats employed on Capitol Hill?

<><> The DNC should list foreign nationals by name and country on Democrats' payrolls, who currently have access to US intel and are using US govt computers.

[nobamanomore]

“If a news organization exposed any of these activities or found out how many lawyers are really working on it (hint-it’s not what they say) they would have a huge scoop.”

There would have to be a news organization first. They aren’t investigating anything relating to Democrat corruption, especially involving protected species (Muslim)

[GSWarrior]

I predict the Dems are going to throw one of their own under the bus, probably Schulz, and then claim the problem solved and let’s all move on.

[DakotaGator]

Indeed. Our wonderful, self righteous, free press. The possibility of Democrat treason is never mentioned in the MSM.