Remember Imran Awan? DOJ Confirms He's Now Part of a 'Sealed Criminal Matter'
For how big of a scandal House Democrats’ information technology aide Imran Awan was mired in, he appeared to have dropped off the face of the Earth shortly after his bombshell airport arrest.
Now, there appears to be a good reason behind the secrecy surrounding him.
As the Department of Justice confirmed to Judicial Watch on Dec. 5, Awan is involved in a “sealed criminal matter.”
The revelation comes as part of Judicial Watch’s attempt to get information about Awan and other former congressional IT support staffers.
“Pursuant to an Order issued by the Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan, who is presiding over a related sealed criminal matter,” a joint status report reads, “the Government is prohibited from disclosing certain information pursuant to formal and informal information request in this matter.”
It appears Judicial Watch had a tough time getting this information, as the watchdog group said the DOJ originally gave it the runaround and seemingly outright lied in order to keep the information secret.
After filing Freedom of Information Act requests, the department gave a deadline. The date came and went with no records.
While the DOJ blamed “technical difficulties” for its failure to produce the documents, it seems that was never the case, Judicial Watch said.
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Awan, who at one time did IT work for 44 House Democrats, made national headlines in recent years after he was found to be in the middle of a massive cybersecurity scandal.
A damning inspector general’s report found that Awan and members of his family who were also hired by lawmakers had access to the emails and files of 20 percent of House Democrats.
The report found that the IT workers accessed computers for politicians they didn’t work for and moved information from the secure House network.
It was noted that the staffers even worked to cover their tracks, hinting at a nefarious motive.
In 2017, Awan seemingly left a laptop belonging to Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz — for whom he worked — for Capitol Police to discover.
Alongside the computer were Awan’s own credentials and letters addressed to the U.S. attorney. Wasserman Schultz would later threaten the Capitol Police chief in an attempt to bully him into returning her equipment.
There’s no telling if this has anything to do with the sealed criminal matter Awan and his former coworkers are involved in, or if it’s related to a different case entirely.
Only time will tell whether the full story of Imran Awan will come to light.
