NYPost | Federal authorities are investigating whether sensitive data was stolen from congressional offices by several Pakistani-American tech staffers and sold to Pakistani or Russian intelligence, knowledgeable sources say.
What started out 16 months ago as a scandal involving the alleged
theft of computer equipment from Congress has turned into a national
security investigation involving FBI surveillance of the suspects.
Investigators now suspect that sensitive US government data —
possibly including classified information — could have been compromised
and may have been sold to hostile foreign governments that could use it
to blackmail members of Congress or even put their lives at risk.
“This is a massive, massive scandal,” a senior US official familiar with the widening probe told The Post.
Alarm bells went off in April 2016 when computer security officials
in the House reported “irregularities” in computer equipment purchasing.
An internal investigation revealed the theft of hundreds of thousands
of dollars in government property, and evidence pointed to five IT
staffers and the Democratic Congress members’ offices that employed
them.
The evidence was turned over to the House inspector general, who
found so much “smoke” that she recommended a criminal probe, sources
say. The case was turned over to Capitol Police in October.
When the suspected IT workers couldn’t produce the missing invoiced
equipment, sources say, they were removed from working on the computer
network in early February.
During the probe, investigators found valuable government data that
is believed to have been taken from the network and placed on offsite
servers, setting off more alarms. Some 80 offices were potentially
compromised.
Most lawmakers fired the alleged “ringleader” — longtime IT staffer
Imran Awan — in February. But Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the
former Democratic National Committee chief, kept Awan on her payroll
until his arrest last month on seemingly unrelated charges of defrauding
the congressional credit union.
