Remember the former IT staffer from Pakistan who worked for U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette and dozens of other Democrats and had complete access to sensitive information on their computers and is accused of making “unauthorized access” to congressional data?
Turns out that no background check was ever conducted on Imran Awan because of a loophole that allowed members of Congress to simply vouch for their shared employees.
If DeGette and others had followed the regular rules instead of opting for the security loophole, the Daily Caller reports they would have found this in Awan’s background check:
Among the red flags in Abid’s background were a $1.1 million bankruptcy; six lawsuits against him or a company he owned; and at least three misdemeanor convictions including for DUI and driving on a suspended license, according to Virginia court records. Public court records show that Imran and Abid operated a car dealership referred to as CIA that took $100,000 from an Iraqi government official who is a fugitive from U.S. authorities. Numerous members of the family were tied to cryptic LLCs such as New Dawn 2001, operated out of Imran’s residence, Virginia corporation records show. Imran was the subject of repeated calls to police by multiple women and had multiple misdemeanor convictions for driving offenses, according to court records.
The Daily Caller contacted every one of the Democrats who had him on their shared payroll — DeGette paid him a total of $158,000. None disputed that a background check had not been done, none were willing to say who all of the members were who vouched for him.
Meanwhile, the Denver Post reports that DeGette’s Democratic opponent, Saira Rao, has raised more than $250,000 during the first quarter this year. DeGette has yet to make public her first quarter fundraising.
Democrats might want to do their own background check on DeGette before contributing to the campaign of a 21-year incumbent.