Former DNC Head Threatens U.S. Capitol Police Chief Over Gathering Evidence On Her IT Staffer

Awan had been in charge of Wasserman Schultz’s IT since 2005 and was banned from the House network this past February after suspicion arose that he had pressured members to keep hiring him and his brothers at exorbitant salaries to maintain their IT networks.

Of Pakistani origin, Awan and his brothers are accused of massive security breaches involving the transfer of sensitive congressional data outside of the House network. Some observers believe the data may have gone to Islamic radicals.

At the heart of the dispute between Wasserman Schultz and Chief Verderosa is a laptop belonging to Schultz that Capitol Police found hidden in a crevice in the Rayburn House Office Building.

She’s demanded the return of the computer, but Verderosa insists it is evidence in the criminal investigation and cannot be released. She maintains that a member’s computer cannot be confiscated unless the member is under investigation.

Verderosa steadfastly asserted the laptop would not be returned because of its relevance to the criminal investigation, which is ongoing and shows signs of growing into a major scandal. Nonetheless, the Florida congresswoman persisted and made her not-so-thinly veiled threat.

I think you’re violating the rules when you conduct your business that way and you should expect that there will be consequences.”

Given the shady manner in which she ran the Democratic National Committee and underhandedly favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2016, Wasserman Schultz’s behavior comes as no surprise.

In a highly unusual exchange, the Florida lawmaker uses a hearing on the Capitol Police’s annual budget to spend three minutes repeatedly trying to extract a promise from the chief that he will return a piece of evidence being used to build an active case.”

The Daily Caller tried several times to get Wasserman Schultz to comment on the episode, but she repeatedly stonewalled.

 . . . asked why she wouldn’t want the Capitol Police to have any evidence they may need to find and punish any hackers of government information, she abruptly turned around in the middle of a stairwell and retreated back to the office from which she had come.”

What remains puzzling to remaining House IT staffers is why Wasserman Schultz appears to be protecting Awan.

Though on the surface Wasserman Schultz would have been a victim of Awan’s scam, she has inexplicably protected him, circumventing the network ban by re-titling him as an ‘adviser’ instead of technology administrator.”

Wasserman Schultz is not the only member of Congress with whom Awan had a strong personal relationship. Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York was known to have a friendly relationship as well.

Around Capitol Hill, there is a buzz that the data stolen by the Awan team could have been used to blackmail members into keeping their lucrative business going in the past. Who knows what kind of secrets the Awans learned about corruption in Congress?

Source: The Daily Caller