A right-leaning ethics group is pushing for a congressional probe into Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz because she continued to employ an IT staffer for months after he became the focus of a criminal investigation.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a conservative accountability group, is requesting the Office of Congressional Ethics launch an investigation into what the nonprofit says is Wasserman Schultz's "apparent breach" of House rules for continuing to employ Imran Awan, even after he was blocked from accessing the House IT system earlier this year.
Awan was fired by Wasserman Schultz last week after being
arrested on one count of bank fraud while attempting to leave the U.S. for Pakistan. But Awan and several of his family members, also previous House staffers, have been the center of a criminal investigation for months involving an equipment and data scam on Capitol Hill.
Awan and his relatives worked as shared employees for more than two dozen House Democrats in the past several years. After the Capitol Hill investigation came to light in early February, most lawmakers fired the other staffers in question.
But Wasserman Schultz retained Awan, even though he has been barred from accessing the House IT network since February. FACT maintains there's no way Awan could have performed IT duties for Wasserman Schultz over the past six months, despite staying on the Florida Democrat's payroll.
Comment: Dmitri Medvedev offered his own response to the law on his Facebook page: Ouch.