Lawyer For IT Aide Says Dem Congressmen To Blame For Falsified Spending Records

Daily Caller ^ | 10/4/17 | Luke Rosiak

[markomalley]

House Democrats ordered the systematic falsification of records showing how they spend their taxpayer-provided office budgets, according to lawyers for two former House information technology (IT) aides.

It’s a remarkable accusation that pits sitting lawmakers against the former aides, Imran Awan, his brothers Abid and Jamal, and his wife Hina Alvi. Imran was arrested in July while trying to board a flight to Pakistan, and then indicted on four counts of bank fraud involving moving money to that country. Imran and Hina, who was also indicted, face a court date Friday.

One of Imran’s lawyers, Aaron Page, acknowledged the invoicing discrepancy Aug. 21, telling The Daily Caller News Foundation, “This is just how things have been done for forever. This is what experienced members of Congress expect: to expedite things, they adjust the pricing.”

If members or senior staff instructed IT aides to misrepresent how budgets were spent, that could potentially explain why officials have not charged the Awans with crimes related to procurement, even a full year after House authorities gathered documentation showing invoices that claimed expensive technological items cost $499 instead of their true price: potentially an open-and-shut violation.

“The only reason you’re not seeing charges is because the Democrats who employed him are not cooperating,” a senior Republican congressional official with direct knowledge of the probe told TheDCNF last month.

He was initially surprised by seeming recalcitrant to enforce House rules, the official said, and eventually saw it as supporting the idea that members might fear that an investigation into rogue staffers could ultimately implicate members or senior staffers in procurement misconduct.

House-wide administrators take a periodic inventory of all equipment over $500, but items listed as less than that amount can more easily go missing. The difference in the price was made-up to the vendor, CDW Government, by wrongly inflating the cost of a “service plan.” The cost for the equipment’s service plans did not count toward triggering any internal tracking. Service plans are costs associated with support in case something breaks.

Some of the equipment was shipped to the Awans’ homes, and many pieces of equipment could not immediately be produced when investigators asked to see it, the senior congressional official told TheDCNF.

An allegedly lackadaisical approach is especially troublesome because procurement violations are not the only focus of the probe into the Awans. The Washington Post reported that investigators found the crew accessed a server 5,400 times without authorization and transferred “massive” data off of the House network. Democrats are potentially letting Imran get away with security breaches to keep the procurement issues from being looked into, the senior official told TheDCNF.

“We will never know the amount of penetration these guys had unless [the offices] do the right thing and come forward,” the official said. Collectively, the Awans and their friend Rao Abbas ran IT for one in five House Democrats, and had access to all their files.

The Washington Post reported Sept. 17 that Abid Awan’s attorney, James Bacon, responded to a question about why orders were falsified to show amounts less than $500 by saying, “In a fluid situation you do what you’re ordered to do.” Any missing equipment, Bacon said, “disappeared after it was brought to the folks who were demanding it. … It sounds to me like there’s a lot of scapegoating here.”

Christopher J. Gowen, one of Imran’s lawyers, added in The Washington Post: “There’s nothing that Imran did that wasn’t requested by one of his clients on House staff.”

Members’ muted response is difficult to square with the fact that Democrats were the ones whose data was in jeopardy and that they have spoken passionately about the importance of cybersecurity, particularly in the context of Russia. Fifteen of the 17 female members of Congress tied to the Awans would not even express concern to TheDCNF when provided with police reports showing multiple women called the cops on Imran, with one saying she felt “like a slave.”

TheDCNF first revealed the details of the long-running procurement issues Aug. 20, including that Democratic Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York did not immediately fire Abid after learning that $120,000 of equipment was missing from her office. Her chief of staff instead filed papers to remove the equipment from the inventory, and did not alert authorities or fire Abid until House administrators contacted the office months later to say they would be reviewing that Awans’ actions.

When TheDCNF asked for comment before publication of that story, Gowen replied, “Not one thing you have reported has been even remotely true.” The day after the story ran, Page, one Imran’s lawyers working alongside Gowen, acknowledged, “I certainly wouldn’t say everything is false,” and blamed House members and their staffs.

“That was Chris being Chris and generalization… This is obviously part of the original thing that police are looking into,” he told TheDCNF.

As it relates to the $120,000 write-off, “It had to do with an outgoing chief of staff who — I don’t remember the guy’s name off the top of my head but I think there was potentially some issues there,” Page said, referring to Shelley Davis, Clarke’s outgoing chief of staff, who would have signed off on purchase orders.

“There may be cases on Capitol Hill of other people — certainly not Imran — who are enriching themselves who are taking devices or abusing expense accounts,” Page said. “Potentially, part of that inventory reflects irresponsible practices by other people but none of it was in Imran’s hands. ”

Clarke and Davis have both declined to explain.

Court records suggest Davis has had money problems, and the Awans have also had major financial issues, with Abid declaring bankruptcy and other family members struggling to get cash together involved in a major land deal in Pakistan.

Members were aware an investigation into the Awans would include the purchase order issue, Page said. “It is part of Capitol Hill’s initial investigation and I think they told a bunch of members of Congress that right around when they fired everybody,” he told TheDCNF.

He also blamed CDW Government, a major government contractor that provided the equipment in question. The senior House official said an employee for the company agreed to alter the invoices at Imran’s request. The company said it is cooperating with prosecutors but that it does not expect to be charged with a crime.”The biggest vendor that provides 80-100 percent of technology on Capitol Hill was part of this,” Page told TheDCNF.

Falsifying purchase orders didn’t “expedite” purchasing items– it just made it easier for them to disappear, the senior congressional official said.

Page would not explain how it was a matter of convenience: “I don’t understand or I’m not going to get in the details of it because I need to look at my notes, but it basically goes back to the idea that it expedites the process to adjust the pricing between the way things are listed.”

Asked how his client altering invoices wasn’t a crime, Page replied, “I’m not going to comment whether the practice is in violation of X or Y or Z regulation on the Hill.”

He expressed confidence that they won’t be charged with procurement fraud, despite the existence of vouchers. “It will be proven false if we have to prove it false,” he said. “And I don’t expect we’ll have to.”

The Sept. 17 WaPo article reported, “As of Sept. 1, 2016, there had been 34 purchases totaling nearly $38,000 ‘where the costs of the item was manipulated to obtain a purchase price of $499.99,’ according to the document. There were $799 iPads and a $640 television on the list, records show. Most of that equipment was left off the official House inventory, investigators found. And investigators found that some of it had been delivered to the homes of the Awan brothers, according to a person familiar with the investigation.”

The senior congressional official told TheDCNF 34 invoices are only the “tip of the iceberg,” and that not all the offices’ paperwork had been reviewed. He expressed surprise that the members wouldn’t have wanted to scour their paperwork on their own to help find evidence of wrongdoing by a rogue staffer.

A list of members who employed the Awans is below.

(chart at the link)

[Heart of Georgia]

Call it what it is..money laundering. For all their high and mighty act, our ‘betters’ are nothing more than thugs.

[Liz]

Man, this is going to be fun.....watching the Democrat employers of the Awan's do the "CYA Cha Cha Cha."

Havent had this much fun since the House check-kiting scandal that saw 77 members---mostly Democrats---resign or summarily ousted by fed-up taxpayers.

C'mon, grab your maracas and watch nervous Democrats do the "CYA Cha Cha Cha."

[Liz]

One of the Awans' smooth-talking defense lawyers: “There may be cases on Capitol Hill of other people (meaning elected members) — certainly not Imran — who are enriching themselves, who are taking devices or abusing (their House) expense accounts. Potentially, part of that tech inventory reflects irresponsible practices by other people (meaning elected members)........ but none of it was in Imran’s hands. ”

Yeah, right.....except only problem w/ that defense is that there's a huge evidentiary paper trail....has names, addresses, signatories......all that good stuff judges and juries love.

[Liz]

Who is the Stupidest Member of Congress?
CAST YOUR VOTE HERE

THE ODD COUPLE---CONG DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
AND IMRAN AWAN (undermining US national security together)

Florida Democrat DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (ousted Democratic National Committee chair) has told conflicting stories on the onership of a highly incriminating laptop.

STORY NUMBER ONE---Schultz was in high dudgeon when she threatened a Capitol Hill police official....caught on tape telling the officer he could expect "consequences" if the laptop was not rturned to her. An episode that amply illustrates why a little nothing dingbat like Debbie should never have even a modicum of power.The poer she did manage to accumulate was used---not to protect the safety and security of America---but to save herself when the tide had turned against her.

STORY NUMBER TWO---Schultz later turned tail----apparently realizing she had made an incredibly stupid move claiming onership of an incriminating laptop. Now she claimed she had never seen it before...... it was Awan’s computer. The same computer she aveered as hers earlier she now claimed she "had never even seen it." As if nobody heared her the first time.....caught on tape saying it was her computer.

Awan was banned Feb. 2, 2017, from the congressional computer network because he is a suspect in a cybersecurity investigation, but he still had access to House facilities because stupid Wasserman Schultz continued to employ him.

NOTE The errant laptop was found on the second floor of the Rayburn building — a place Awan would have had no reason to go because Wasserman Schultz’s office is in the Longworth building and the other members who employed him had fired him.

[Liz]

(HAT TIP PAUL SPERRY--NY POST) “This is a massive, massive scandal,” a senior US official familiar with the widening probe told The NY Post. Democrats' IT staffers may have compromised sensitive US data to a foreign intelligence appart.

“The Democrat 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.”

Federal authorities are investigating whether sensitive data was stolen from Demorats' congressional offices by IT staffers hired by Democrats and sold to Pakistani or Russian intelligence, knowledgeable sources say.

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.

The data in the hands of America's enemies endangers the safety and security of Americans and their vulnerable families. The data could also be used to blackmail members of Congress or leaked to thwart their re/election campaigns.

[Henchster]

MEMORY LANE---The House banking scandal

Bingo! Another typical Congressional abuse. Start a "bank" just for Congresscritters, loot the thing three ways from Sunday, blame the "system" while never paying the money back, and let the taxpayer cover the balances. The outdated (inflated) IT budget scam is just another of the ways these sleazebags have been outright stealing from the taxpayers. There are probably dozens of other budget scams like this.

[Liz]

Terrific deconstruction of the thieves in Congress....elected and unelected.

[Liz]

-Democrat Cong Andre Carson employed Imran and is buddy-buddy w/ the Pakis. Eye-witnesses report Carson and Imran---a tax-paid US govt employee---passed the time away playing video games in Carson's Congressional office. An astute FReeper posted that it is possible to transfer intel via a video game.

MEET THE MUSLIM CONGRESSMAN W/ A STRANGLEHOLD ON AMERICA'S SAFETY AND SECURITY----how did Andre Carson get on several major Congressional intel committees?

Rep Andre Carson (Dem-Indiana) is a member of (A) the House Intelligence and (B) House Homeland Security Committees. Carson is also ranking member of the (C) House intelligence subcommittee on Emerging Threats, which oversees the (D) Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The subcommittee oversight extends to the (E) National Counterterrorism Center and (F) information-sharing programs. (The first elected Muslim---Cong Keith Ellison---is co-chair of the DNC.)

Rep Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat----is the second Muslim elected to Congress-----and the first Muslim on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Carson sits on several high level security committees: (A) the House Intelligence, and, (B) House Homeland Security Committees. Carson is also (C) ranking member of the House intelligence subcommittee on Emerging Threats, which oversees (D) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The subcommittee oversight extends to (E) the National Counterterrorism Center and information-sharing programs.

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(hat tip niccolo) To get these important committee appointments, Andre Carson has to be bringing in serious money for Democrats-----monies required by the DNC.

These high-level committee appointments are "positions for sale." Every appointment has a dollar amount attached to it that Members desiring the positions are required to raise.

Taxpayers demand to know if Carson is channeling Islamicist cash directly into the DNC.

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Carson attends the unveiling of the commemorative bust
of his grandmother--she once held the seat he occupies.

[Liz]

The lies the Paki's defense lawyers are putting out there just never stop.

UPDATE: Imran was arraigned in federal court Friday before last on four felony fraud charges, appearing with three attorneys including Chris Gowen, a former close aide to Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Imran's Atty Gowen asked that Awan’s GPS monitoring bracelet be removed, citing that Imran might need to attend to an emergency with his children. In a press conference outside court, Gowen admitted that the children are in Pakistan and refused to explain the discrepancy. “His ability to parent, which may well be single parenting, if there is an emergency…” Gowen said.

(NOTE Sounds to me like Imran's planning to fly the coop--he has tons of money waiting for him, and the protection of the grateful Pakistani police.)

Atty Gowen also asked for other restrictions on Imran's movements to be lifted; he said Imran has been driving for Uber, but the company had no record of any driver in their employ matching several variations of Imran’s name.

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

US Prosecutor Michael Mirando opposed the motions, saying Imran is a severe flight risk. “From Day 1 there was a pattern of flight. It began September 2016… a pattern of transfers to Pakistan, hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. The judge has not ruled on the motion. --SNIP--

[Liz]

The House Democrats that employed the Awans's left a huge electronic/paper trail.....evidence judges and juries love to have to convict defendants.

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Luke Rosiak, ace reporter for TheDCNF, first revealed the long-running House procurement theft issue. Rosiak detailed that Democratic Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York did not immediately fire Abid after learning that $120,000 of equipment was missing from her office.....not reporting a crime IS a crime.

Democrat Clarke's chief of staff, instead, filed papers to "write-off".....to remove the equipment from the House inventory. Democrat Clarke did not alert authorities or fire Abid.

Democrat Clarke's COS created an evidentiary electronic/paper trail by inquiring about the House "write-off" process that usually involves lost blackberries.......not varied tech purchases totaling 120,000 tax dollars.

A judge and jury sure will take note of that incriminating detail.

Democrat Clarke musta gone ballistic when House administrators later informed the Clarke office they would be reviewing Awans’ actions in that "write-off" episode. (HAT TIP LUKE ROSIAK)

[Liz]

DEMOCRATS LEAVE MORE INCRIMINATING ELECTRONIC PAPER TRAIL EVIDENCE From all that ace reporter Luke Rosiak's dug up so far, Imran Awan has outed himself as a master spy, a thief, and a criminal who was let loose on Capitol Hill and left to his own devices by a bunch of ignorant House Democrats.

The Big Reveal is the "secret server" siphoning off mega-data from the House Democratic Caucus--H/D/C--(where Imran also ran a theft ring).

Investigators found that the H/D/C server, to which only Imran's wife, Alvi had been authorized to access, had actually been accessed more than 5,700 times over a seven-month period. Alvi left a solid evidentiary paper trail......she's on-record having signed in to use the H/D/C server fewer than 300 times.

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This evidence is a huge red flag---it indicates the Awans operated as an undercover, cohesive team, collected intel, and downloaded it to criminal associates. They Awans are not the discrete, individual IT support personnel their mentor Debbie wasserman Schultz, and other dumb Democrats, would have us believe.

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Even more alarming, at the time of the Awans' server rampage, the House Democratic Caucus was chaired by then-Cong Xavier Becerra who reported nothing amiss.

NOTE: Democrat Becerra quit Congress to take an appointment as California's Attorney General...the state's top ranking L/E officer. Looks like Becerra can continue his practice of "looking the other way" as crimes are being committed.

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No question in my mind that the sordid details of the House security breach will not inflame the citizenry as much as the discovery that their duly elected Democrat Representatives used tax dollars to finance the imperiling of Americans' safety and security, crimes perpetrated by some very shady foreign characters that infiltrated Congress, the House Democratic Caucus, and the DNC.

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Xavier Becerra is the plus-perfect example. His activities in the matter of his constituents' safety and security indicate his loyalty is most definitely NOT to his constituents.

Yes, AG Becerra left a solid evidentiary paper trail.

<><> Becerra is on-record as having doled out 20-30,000 extra tax dollars, over and above paying the Awan clan's gargantuan IT salaries.

<><> Becerra's profligate use of tax dollars implicates him in the treachery.

Even more egregiously, when asked to cooperate w/ L/E, Democrat Becerra interfered w/ the Capitol Police investigation of the H/D/C security breach.

<><> Becerra deliberately gave a false image of the treacherous “secret server” to the Capitol Police.

<><> Becerra was mysteriously not arrested.

<><> Becerra's fellow Democrats rewarded him handsomely for his aiding and abetting a security breach. Becerra was appointed Attorney General of California.

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FACTS ON FILE---The Awans' secret server was connected to the House Democratic Caucus, chaired by then-Rep. Xavier Becerra.

The ex/director of the Democratic Caucus, Sean McCluskie, was Democrat Becerra’s chief of staff. McCluskie is now chief deputy AG of California alongside appointed AG, Xavier Becerra.

Becerra and McCluskie have gone incommunicado---failing to return a reporter's repeated requests for comment on this monstrous story.