The ongoing drama of The IT Guys—the three Pakistani brothers now alleged to have stolen sensitive information from congressional servers while working for Capitol Hill Democrats—just took a couple more turns, one of which is the most bizarre yet.
According to a new report from The Daily Caller, Imran Awan, one of the three brothers and the lead suspect in the Capitol Hill Police investigation, had in his possession the password to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ iPad, which contained a combination of congressional files and access to the Democratic National Committee files and contacts. The congresswoman is the former head of the DNC.
The report states:
Wasserman Schultz resigned the DNC post in the wake of WikiLeaks posting damaging internal emails, blaming the scandal on hacking by Russians.
Imran and his family members, all of whom worked as IT professionals for members of Congress, were banned from the House network Feb. 2, 2017, by the House Sergeant at Arms, but Wasserman Schultz has declined to fire him and circumvented the ban by having him “advise” her office.
WikiLeaks emails show that although Imran was employed by her taxpayer-funded House office, the Florida Democrat’s world—and iPad—mixed DNC, House and campaign business, and that Imran was on call for, and on a first-name basis with, top DNC staff.
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But that’s only the beginning. The DC is also reporting that the Awan brothers had been holding a family member hostage in order to gain access to money their father had kept in the Middle East.
That report states:
Days before U.S. Capitol Police told House members three Pakistani brothers who ran their computer networks may have stolen congressional data, their stepmother called Fairfax County, Virginia police to say the Democratic staffers were keeping her from her husband’s deathbed.
A relative described the woman’s life as being completely controlled by the brothers for months while they schemed to take their father’s life insurance.
The brothers—who as IT professionals for Congress could read House members’ emails—allegedly used wiretapping devices on their own stepmother and threatened to abduct loved ones in Pakistan if she didn’t give them access to money stowed away in that country.
On Feb. 2, House officials banned Imran, Abid and Jamal Awan from the House of Representatives network as part of a Capitol Police criminal investigation into House computer security. But longtime employers including Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Gregory Meeks have stood by them. Meeks, of New York, said although they had access to his data, he’d “seen no evidence that they were doing anything that was nefarious” like steal or hack, and were being unfairly picked on for being Muslim.
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