Computers Of House Democrats Were Compromised And There Were No Russians Involved

This is ironic on all sorts of levels.

Five House employees are under criminal investigation amid allegations that they stole equipment from more than 20 member offices and accessed House IT systems without lawmakers’ knowledge.

Access to the House network was terminated for the five employees — four men and a woman — on Thursday afternoon, but it’s up to individual lawmakers to fire the staffers in question, according to a senior House official. The official said most members are proceeding with termination.

The staffers have not been arrested.

All lawmakers targeted by the alleged scam were victims and had no idea what crimes might have been committed by their employees, House sources said.
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The employees allegedly stole equipment from members’ offices without their knowledge and committed serious, potentially illegal, violations of House IT policies.

Seems like they buried the lede, doesn’t it. I would think that there are larger risks than mere equipment theft. They also fail to mention that the “more than 20 member offices” have one thing in common: they are all Democrats.

The Daily Caller moves the story forward:

Brothers Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan were barred from computer networks at the House of Representatives Thursday, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned.

Three members of the intelligence panel and five members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs were among the dozens of members who employed the suspects on a shared basis. The two committees deal with many of the nation’s most sensitive issues and documents, including those related to the war on terrorism.
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Abid, Imran and Jamal have all shared a house in Lorton, Virginia, that is owned by Hina R. Alvi. Alvi is a female House IT employee who works for many of the same members as the three brothers, as well as the House Democratic Caucus.

Signs of trouble have long been visible in public records. The Congressional Credit Union repossessed Abid’s car in 2009, and he declared bankruptcy in 2012, facing multiple lawsuits.
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Jamal, who public records suggest is only 22 years old and first began working in the House when he was 20, was paid nearly $160,000 a year, or three times the average House IT staff salary, according to InsideGov, which tracks congressional salaries. Abid was paid $161,000 and Imran $165,000.

Officials in the House are claiming that it was forbidden for members to send classified information to their personal offices. I suppose that could make you feel better so long as you forget about Hillary Clinton.

I’m sure it would be racist and xenophobic to draw any inferences about the people under investigation, or the fact that they targeted Democrats, or that somehow they managed to get hired without even a credit check.

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