Awan Brothers Worked for Several California Democrats

Imran Awan and his brother Abid worked for several dozen Democratic U.S. Representatives, including several from California, according to a recent investigative report citing congressional staff data.

CBS Los Angeles reported on Thursday (original links):

Imran Awan was fired Tuesday by Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the same day he pleaded not guilty to a bank fraud charge in connection with a $165,000 home equity loan, authorities said.

His brother Abid Awan, was employed earlier this year by Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu, Tony Cardenas, and nearly 30 more House Democrats as a “shared employee”, according to Legistorm, a website that tracks congressional employment.

CBS singled out Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), who has been encouraging government employees to leak information to the media.

Imran Awan also worked for several California Democrats, most notably former Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), who is now Attorney General of California.

In addition, both brothers also worked for a variety of other Democrats from other states.

The various allegations involving the Awan brothers are still being revealed. The brothers were accused of owing money to a Hezbollah-linked Iraqi politician earlier this year. In addition, they allegedly sent files from the offices of members of the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees to remote servers, and stole hard drives that were later smashed.

It is still unclear how the Awan brothers were able to secure lucrative government contracts and gain access to sensitive information despite several red flags, including their financial and legal problems that ought to have resulted in any security clearance being denied.

Critics have accused former Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) of protecting Imran Awan, employing him until his arrest last week.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Correction: The headline and lead paragraph have been changed to reflect the fact that while the Awan brothers worked for dozens of Democrats overall, the number of California Democrats who employed them was lower.