In what has been a hurricane of nonstop media hits, tweets and interviews, RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel seems hellbent on a one-woman mission to get answers about former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's ex-IT director, Imran Awan.
Awan is in a heap of trouble, according to recent Independent Journal Review reporting. The longtime Democratic IT staffer, who has worked for at least 25 Democratic members of Congress, was caught by authorities attempting to flee the country this week.
The Pakistani-born immigrant was under investigation for “wide-ranging equipment and data theft” when he wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to his family in Pakistan and authorities say he attempted to flee the country. He is also being charged with bank fraud.
Reports say that Awan left several smashed hard drives at his residence and the FBI is now involved in the investigation. Awan is now under ankle-bracelet house arrest and was forced to surrender his passports. Schultz continued to keep Awan on her congressional payroll until Tuesday, the day of his arrest.
McDaniel, speaking in an phone call with IJR, says the entire charade “reads like a spy novel.”
“He took a hammer to a hard drive, wired $300,000 to Pakistan and then tried to flee the country?" McDaniel said, exacerbated, wondering aloud why Democrats are silent on Awan, ”[Democrats] ring the bells whenever they want Republicans investigated. Here is a national security threat actually worth investigating."
The chairwoman told IJR that Schultz had “obstructed” and was not cooperating with the authorities attempting to investigate her former staffer.
However, McDaniel reserved her harshest criticism for the media.
The Awan story has received minimal media play, clocking in just 37 seconds of network broadcast airtime and lagging pickup in print or online outlets.
McDaniel says the lack of coverage demonstrates a double standard in the media landscape, noting the “ad nauseam” coverage of the FBI's special counsel probe into potential Trump-Russia connections.
“This shows why the public has such a low opinion of the media," McDaniel laments. "If this were a Republican staffer smashing servers and fleeing the country, this would be an all day, 24/7 news story. It just does not fit [the media] narrative right now, so it gets no coverage.”
She adds that had this been a Republican staffer, “they would not be on my staff any longer and I would not keep them on taxpayer-funded salary till they try and flee the country.”
“Let's look a the contrast," McDaniel said, alluding to the ongoing Russia investigation, "Republicans have been totally forthcoming. Kushner has testified before Congress. Don [Trump] Jr. has released his emails.”
McDaniel called for an official investigation into Awan before passing judgement. “Unlike the Democrats and the Trump family” McDaniel said, “I don't think you're guilty until proven innocent.”
McDaniel had a final jab for Schultz. Harkening back to her resignation from the DNC after a data breech of servers there revealed mismanagement and a clear bias toward Hillary Clinton, McDaniel wondered if an investigation into Awan may reveal why the hacked DNC server has never been turned over to the FBI.
To date, Democratic leaders have refused to allow federal cybersecurity agents to investigate their hacked DNC servers, which remain inside the committee building. McDaniel says the move is hypocritical.
Once [Wasserman Schultz] knew that the DNC was hacked, why didn't she turn the servers over to be investigated or reviewed by the FBI? If they are so concerned about what Russia did to interferer in this election, why wouldn't they do everything in their power to comply and aide that investigation?
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