After compromising the Congress' networks for 12 years they do a quick cleanup by breaking in to 20 congressional offices, store data in an off site server before running of to Pakistan and the D.C. Police are investigating. But wait there's more...
The more I dig in to the story of the Awan brothers the bigger the breech appears to be. There is also their interaction with figures you all know. This is the real story, who were they working for, what did they steal, who covered for them, and where did they go...
Before I get too far into this information I want to give credit to
Luke Rosiak who has written a great series of pieces for the Daily Caller, and
George Webb who has done a great
YouTube series. Beyond the normal video usually posted George Webb asks his viewers to tweet and email representatives and media figures. If they get a barrage of mail they can't ignore the information. He has already got information read in to the congressional record and coverage from media personalities.
Now before ya'll scream"Ya gots no proof," I will direct you to my
previous post. The information in that post comes from credible sources and is cited. While I will continue to cite my information there are some spots where I will be making logical leaps that as of yet I cannot prove. If you see flaws in the logic please post and I will address the issues.
So let's get in to the basics of the case.
• The size and scope of the breach has various numbers in the reporting. It appears that the case is still expanding. This is why quoted text may have conflicting numbers. Earlier articles were still revealing the scope of the breach.
• The numbers vary in the reporting but four Pakistani Brothers, Imran Awan, Abid Awan and Jamal Moiz Awan, and 2 wives get an IT job in Congress. Their has been some mention of a possible unrelated party involved as well.
Additionally, it was revealed that these employees were paid more than three times the salary of a “normal” IT worker, grossing upwards of $5 million dollars combined during their tenure as IT professionals. While the average government IT professional earns about $55,000 per year, Imran Awan was being paid $165,130, Abid Awan grossed $164,980 per annum, and Jamal Awan $157,577 according to government records.
Soon after Imran began working for members of Congress, Imran’s and Abid’s wives — Hina Alvi and Natalia Sova — also began receiving
congressional paychecks, The DCNF found. Imran’s employers included two members of the intelligence committee, Indiana Democrat Rep. Andre Carson and California Democrat Rep. Jackie Speier.
• From 2004/2005 Imran and his brothers work their way in to Capitol Hill staffer jobs to an unspecified number of Congressmen. The reporting ranges from 30 to 80 depending on the article cited. It appears that about 30 representatives added the Awan brothers to their payroll, but they may have done associated and work for about 80 representatives.
Imran Awan has a longtime relationship with some members of Congress, including working for Meeks and Becerra starting in 2004 and joining Wasserman Schultz's office in 2005. The IT staffer position expanded to include more than 30 representatives, including work under congressional members who were members of top secret level congressional committees (DHS, Foreign affairs, Select intelligence committee).
Although personal office computers are not supposed to be used for Intelligence Committee business or classified material,
accessing these computers is a high priority for foreign intelligence services because of the information they could glean about the committee’s work from unclassified emails. Their is contested information that the Awan brothers did get access to sensitive and classified information. While the emails and internal correspondence would be considered sensitive, but I have yet to confirm classified information was compromised, however a lot of circumstantial evidence prevent me from ruling out the possibility.
•The brothers are suspected of serious violations including accessing members’ computer networks without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress, over billing congress for work and parts, transferring data to a remote server, and bypassing normal security protocols for IT staff. Their Democrat benefactors allowed the breech of policy for the sake of convenience.
• The Awans operated an external server, which is against all protocols concerning secured government information.
• The Awans had special access to the White House and for Visas.
• Multiple Democratic lawmakers have yet to cut ties with House staffers under criminal investigation for wide-ranging equipment and data theft. ``Imran Awan, a longtime House staffer who worked for more than two dozen Democrats since 2004, is still employed by Rep. Debbie Wasserman (As of March 5, 2017)
In my first
article I glossed over the kidnapping of the "stepmother" not understanding the significance of the event. When I read the
Fairfax County Police report it just didn't grab my attention. One fact I missed was the use of electronic surveillance to control the movements and actions of the stepmother. I also failed to understand the Awan brothers were trying to gain access to funds in Pakistan.
Congressional staffers allegedly held their stepmother in “captivity” with violent threats in a plan to use her to access money stashed away in the Middle East. The staffers are suspected of using their positions to enrich themselves.
•••
“They kept their stepmother in sort of illegal captivity from October 16, 2016 to February 2,” the relative said, telling her they were in charge of her life and said she was not allowed to speak to anyone. The fact that she did not speak English made it easy for them to take advantage of her.
•••
The brothers bugged her house with hidden listening devices and told her “her movements were under constant surveillance and conversations within the house and over the telephone were being listened to. They would repeat what she had told people to prove that they were really listening.”
•••
But as soon as Shah passed away, they came into the house and “whatever documents were there they stole, a couple laptops which were their father’s property, and left for Pakistan.”
And left for Pakistan...
This article proves a number of things that should be explored.
The first would be the use of surveillance equipment on the stepmother.
Yes, I will concede that they could have bought the equipment to watch their stepmother, but I believe that is unlikely. The skills to run a surveillance operation are beyond most IT techs. It's not that they couldn't figure it out, they just wouldn't have the equipment. While the price is dropping, running an effective bugging operation is expensive and time consuming. Let's consider for they moment the brothers had the equipment for other jobs and repurposed the equipment for their surveillance of the stepmother. This brings us to the first logical leap...
How many of you have used an in-line key logger? It's a simple, inexpensive device that can't be detected by antivirus software. It operates outside of the OS plugged into the USB port then the keyboard is plugged into the logger. The only real problem is obtaining access to deploy and recover the device. This brings us to the break ins. Why did the Awan brothers break in to 20+ Congressional offices when they already had full admin and remote access to the computers. It has already been proven they could access/edit/delete all the Congressmen's email, files, everything. It is even possible to remotely format a system. They could even transfer data to a remote off site server. There was no reason to break in to the offices to recover data, so what were they after?
I believe it was to recover something other than data. It only stands to reason they had to recover surveillance equipment and or Spyware installed in the offices and systems. They were running a bugging operation on congress and had to retrieve the equipment before they lost access to it.
The second is why did they run?
Here is the second logical leap. They began controlling the movement of their stepmother on the 16th of October, 2016. No one at least in the Democrat party even entertained the possibility hillary would not be the next president. Even the pro Trump supporters had to admit he was a long shot until 9pm on election night. Almost everybody believed hillary would win and the bodies would stay buried forever. Imran was familiar with the clintons and it has been reported Imran was quite friendly with bill clinton. He was about to dramatically expand his sphere of influence.
The Awan brothers had no obvious reason for consolidating their assets and running to Pakistan. They began their consolidation of assets some time before October 16th. This implies planning and fore thought. They knew something was coming. What could have been lucrative enough or dangerous enough to have caused the need to pack up shop and get out of town Was it the health of their father that caused the need to control the family assets? They were clearly attempting to get control of the father's, Muhammad Shah, assets and power of attorney here and later in Pakistan to "inherit" the family assets, but that would not have been cause to run. They could have acquired the assets and remained in the United States. It has already been shown they had enough clout to get past any problems the stepmother could have caused. That would not have required a break in to 20 congressional offices and a complete exodus of the United States. In view of the events we know that was an exaggerated response to events, or something else had to change. Was it the DNC hack? The wikileaks of email systems they protected? Was it the proposed changes to the security clearance for staffers that made them run?
Could it have been the new policy of FBI background checks for staffers and the request for a Top Secret/Compartmentalized information request for investigation of staffers attached to the Congressional Intelligence Committee. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Rep. Jackie Speier recommended the Awan Brothers for their positions and asked for their
TOP SECRET (TS/SCI) CLEARANCE. This .pdf is a request for a budget addition of $125,000 to conduct background investigations for the highest level of top secret/compartmentalized information (TS/SCI) clearance for Intelligence committee staffers. This is speculation, but the Awan brothers were getting the brass ring. They had access to congressional data that would only increase with the clearance.
This brings in an angle of the story I had found little published information on Nanoset Technologies, but what has been reported in
r/TruthLeaks is the beginning of something solid on the Awan brothers web of business interests.
Nanoset Technologies
Nanoset Technologies were a government contractor that sells IT equipment to the government, but the Awans were officers in that company while they were staff, which is a conflict-of-interest {{ But it's also a way to get equipment with backdoors into the Congress }} ••• There is a well-known Bangladeshi doctor at the VA in Baltimore, MD [name redacted]. She was living with the Awans, and was doing business with the Awans--an odd mix of IT and Medicine. She became a CEO of Nanoset Technology while she was an MD at the VA, and the business listed is just a condo. How much biz did they do with the US Government?
This would have been very lucrative for their business and open a whole new horizon of contacts and government pork they could bid on, why would the run? What would the investigation turn up? I have to admit I don't know the answer here, but it doesn't make sense. What I do know is we have not been provided a good reason for why they were planning their escape to Pakistan prior to October 16th, 2016.
The Security Clearance
Prior to 2017 IT Staff could get access to Congressional computers systems with a simple FBI background check. Members of Congress could pencil whip this if they vouched for the staffer.
House and Senate staff members with a need to access classified information are required to obtain security clearances. The Office of Senate Security and Office of House Security, respectively, have oversight over the security clearance process for congressional staffers, and background investigations are conducted by the FBI.
According to the
CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence: “There are no written rules, agreed to by both branches, governing what intelligence will be shared with the Hill or how it will be handled. The current system is entirely the product of experience, shaped by the needs and concerns of both branches over the last 20 years.” ••• The House reportedly only required background investigations of House IT staff in 2016. These investigations were to be applied retroactively to existing House IT staff unless a member signed a waiver attesting to their “trustworthiness and judgment.”
Is the FBI investigating this case? No, it was found to be in the Jurisdiction of the D.C. Capitol Police.
As had been stated the U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the break ins of the congressional offices. Despite
Paul Ryan's assurances, “I wont speak to the nature of their investigation, but they’re getting the kind of technical assistance they need to do that, this is under an active criminal investigation", How is D.C. Capitol Police the best investigative force to work the case? Are they actually better suited to investigate a Congressional Cyber Security Breach and track the suspects guilty of the Federal crime
18 U.S.C. § 371—Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and, or apprehend the subjects in Pakistan?
Despite media claims that no Classified material was compromised, if the information Idaho Republican
Rep. Raul Labrador is correct when he said, "This is pretty outrageous. These are people who had direct connections and access to the House, to intelligence information,... This is actually something that could directly affect the national security of the United States, and I have seen very little reporting, and apparently, the Democrats are not that interested.” An argument could also be made that the Awan brothers violated
18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information. I'm not a lawyer, but it looks more and more like a federal case. If so, then why are D.C. Capitol Police investigating a crime that could have tremendous scope?
So while
The FBI Is Building a National Watchlist That Gives Companies Real-Time Updates on Employees for the rest of us, the word of a Congressional Representative who was also grandfathered a clearance just for getting in to the club can also recommend their staff for clearances. I understand elections have consequences, and our representatives need access to make informed legislative decisions, but through a funded campaign literally anyone can get a clearance. Like an enemy intelligence services wouldn't try to run for congress. At least a spy would have a better criminal record that many members of Congress.
My point is the staff needs additional scrutiny and changes to staffing policy might need to be addressed. The staff doesn't need to be trusted by the representative, they need to be trusted by the country. In the corporate world, if the staff covers up crimes committed by the CEO they go to jail, but in Washington it seems to be a job requirement.
Could a Foreign Intelligence Service be Involved? If so, Which One?
Is it so hard to believe the very capable ISI could have sent in operatives to infiltrate the Congressional Intelligence committee. After breaking in to 20 congressional offices and leaving the United States under suspicious circumstances, is it absurd to consider a foreign intelligence agency might be attempting to compromise the House Intelligence Committee. We're building a circumstantial case but there is no meat on it. Where is the connection to the ISI, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Iranians? Where is the connection to any extremists?
The following are informed guessing.
I haven't found direct evidence to support this speculation, but have seen
circumstantial evidence that points strongly towards ties to a larger group. I'm including this section primarily to elicit responses from you, the reader. I'm looking for direction and leads for the next article. Help me out and tell me what you think.
Were these IT staffers part of a plot by foreign actors to penetrate the House of Representatives and its computers? There has been speculation by some conservative journalists and experts that they may have had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. A former CIA officer told me she worries that the three Awad brothers, who reportedly are Pakistani immigrants, may have ties to the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI.
While the political and faction associations are very fluid and complicated in the Middle East, it can be boiled down to
Shia and Sunni interests in a very Broad sense. Iran and Syria are Shia while Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan are Sunni and they are fighting for control of the new Caliphate.
This is very broad and in its application difficult, but essentially true. This Why it is important to identify the players. Could the Awan brothers have been working for the ISI or Iran? This would also provide some insight to the motivation of the theft of data. Were the Awan brothers supplying information to Iranians during the nuclear talks? That would really define their motives, but we are left with more questions than answers.
A major reason for the disparity is that most accounts of the Afghan and Pakistani troops fighting under the Hezbollah flag in Syria mistakenly tend to minimize their ideological motivations. However, the Shia foreign fighter phenomenon could have serious ramifications for South Asia, because it serves as a pretense under which Tehran trains and indoctrinates militant Shia populations.
•••
Enter Dr. Ali al-Attar, an Iraqi political figure who allegedly has connections to Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group. While this is not an overt connection, but much like political corruption, individuals committing these types of crimes attempt to be careful. While many ultimately fail, they think through their moves and are harder to catch. Most complicated crimes, organized crime, financial crimes, computer crimes, are not discovered through direct evidence, but are uncovered through a
pattern of behavior. Remember they got Al Capone for tax evasion not boot legging or murder.
Update: New concerns that this may have been an attempt by a foreign Jihadist organization to penetrate the House computer system arose this week in reports by The Daily Caller and The Daily Signal that the Awan brothers owed money to Dr. Ali al-Attar, an Iraqi political figure who allegedly has connections to Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group.
Who Is Ali A. Al-Attar, M.D
The first thing that comes up is he was
suspended from practicing medicine - Maryland Board of Physicians charged Ali A. Al-Attar, M.D., a physician licensed to practice medicine in the State of Maryland. Dr . Al-Attar's failure to cooperate with the Board investigation was said to be deliberate by the board. Currently Dr. Ali al-Attar is wanted for tax evasion and defrauding
the medicare system.
After losing his medical license in November of 2010 Al-Attar got to know the Awan brothers well enough to provide them an unsecured loan for $100,000. I'm sensing a relationship there.
Philip Giraldi, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, wrote that Dr. Ali Al-Attar “was observed in Beirut, Lebanon conversing with a Hezbollah official” in 2012–shortly after the loan was made.
While Al-Attar was born in Iraq his parents were Iranian. At various times during the Bush administration, beginning in 2002, Al-Attar met with then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz along with a cadre of other Iraqi dissidents opposed to
Saddam Hussein to discuss the war, Al-Attar has also been accused of helping provoke the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Between 2002 and 2012 Al-Attar became disaffected with American actions in Iraq and began to formulate plans with Hezbollah. This would be reasonable considering his Iranian heritage. How does this bring Al-Attar and the Awan brothers together. This is another fact I glossed over not understanding the true significance of the brothers car dealership Cars International A, LLC, referred to as “CIA” in court documents.
And it is very interesting how the car dealership’s finances were strangely interwoven with those of the U.S. House of Representatives. A car-dealing associate who was owed money by the brothers, Rao Abbas, also a Muslim, was placed on the congressional payroll.
Abbas is listed as the IT professional for former Democratic Representative Patrick Murphy, a then-member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and its Subcommittee on Department of Defense, Intelligence and Overhead Architecture and (irony alert) Subcommittee on the NSA and Cybersecurity.
Imran actually got Democratic Representative Patrick Murphy to place Rao Abbasi on his payroll. It is likely that Rao simply ran the dealership and got paid for being a part of the Awan crew. This seems like fraud to me. Isn't the FBI supposed to ask politicians about the misappropriation of funds? We'll come back to Rao in a moment.
“Imram later acted as
owner since CIA was considered family business by the Awans,” Abid’s one-time business partner, Nasir Khattak, said in court documents. The car dealership’s finances consisted of byzantine transfers in which staff and cars were often swapped between it and a dealership next door, Khattak said.
Lets look again at the car dealership, CIA (Cars International A). The records show a
confusing tangle of sales and trades, but despite the 5 million the brothers took in from their work as congressional staffers, the brothers were constantly in debt. Imran brought in about 150 grand a year between himself and the 2 wives also brought in 6 figure salaries. Now we have Hezbollah-Connected Dr. Al-Attar putting cash in to the dealership after fleeing the country. At about the same time he is meeting with a Hezbollah leader, and Hezbollah gets busted for laundering drug money with used cars and consumer goods from China. The documentation for the business was in shambles and Imran maintained control of the dealers license. In essence, Imran was able to front for Hezbollah in their auto trading. Also while heavily in debt Imran was able to mass a portfolio of real estate properties.
In addition to his other jobs,
Imran is a real estate agent, and Khattak is also a realtor who obtained the cash from Al-Attar and passed it through bank accounts used for real estate deals in Fairfax County, Va.
“Having lost my and Abid’s collective investment of $500k due to Awan’s mismanagement, [CIA] was further in debt $400k to other creditors,” Khattak said in a lawsuit.
While it is obvious Imran had some fairly sloppy business practices and was predatory to his partners he also was well suited to launder funds for Hezbollah. Imran had obtained the licenses necessary to support what had by this time become a model for moving money throughout the world. Several arrests have been made showing Hezbollah buys used American cars, ships them to Africa for sale or trade for drugs. At the same time Chinese consumer goods are being shipped to South America to trade for drugs in South America. Money is made from the transport and sale of drugs in to Europe from South America and Africa. The profits are then used to buy more vehicles in North America and consumer goods in China. The money is then laundered by banks like the Lebanese Canadian Bank with some of the money being siphoned off to pay for further terrorist activities. Beyond supporting their terrorist activities they also expand their allies and support in Africa, Central, and South America creating an international presence. It may be a coincidence that Imran’s businesses model gots ideally in to the current standard fir money laundering by Hezbollah, but it is an amazing coincidence if it was accidental.
NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- Lebanese Canadian Bank and two Lebanese exchange houses helped launder more than $480 million for the Hezbollah terrorist group in a scheme that involved buying and selling used cars, the U.S. said in a civil complaint today.
Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit in Manhattan claiming the defendants took money from Lebanon to buy used cars in the U.S. and sell them in West Africa.
Here is where I begin to speculate. Imran, at this point, has infiltrated or highest levels of security and at the very least has the ability to run the most compromising surveillance operation of the Democrat party, the Congress, the United States government and intelligence initiatives in history. The story of the break-ins makes the hillary server small potatoes. hillary may have opened foggy bottom to the world while she was sec state, but the Awan brothers gave congress to the Iranians, the Pakistanis, or given his predatory business practices, both of them.
Then while Imran is compromising Congress he also builds a business that integrates perfectly in to Hezbollah's business model. What if Al-Attar was a fictional partner. The Keiser Sosei as it were for the business. Insane right? There is no way it's possible the business partner who hasn't been seen in the United States since 2010 didn't even exist right. The money trail is there. There are documents, loans, paperwork. Are you sure?
Abid claimed the Iraqi doctor may never have existed. “If as suspected, all of this is a charade, particularly if it is learned the mysterious Dr. Al-Attar doesn’t exist or didn’t sign the documents, then the whole matter rises to a higher level,” he said in court documents.
I want you to remember as quoted above...
Abbas is listed as the IT professional for former Democratic Representative Patrick Murphy, a then-member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and its Subcommittee on Department of Defense, Intelligence and Overhead Architecture and (irony alert) Subcommittee on the NSA and Cybersecurity.
By 2009, the family was simultaneously managing a full-time car dealership in Virginia, with Abid running day-to-day operations after contributing $250,000 in startup cash. It was called Cars International A, LLC, referred to as “CIA” in court documents.
Imran boasted unusual clout among House Democrats, and was even pictured conversing with former President Bill Clinton. After Rao Abbas, who was owed money by the dealership, threatened to sue amid allegations of deception and theft, Abbas appeared on the congressional payroll and received $250,000 in taxpayer payments.
And Debbie Wasserman Schultz refuses to fire Imran Awan. What's going on here? Imran is still on Debbie Wasserman Schultz's payroll as a consultant. Wasn't Imran at IT consultant? His access to the House of Representatives and more importantly the House computer systems has been revoked. What exactly is Imran consulting on? I'm sorry I don't have answers for this one, but it definitely makes no sense. This anomaly is so strange it requires more investigation.
Where are we at so far?
We have 4 brothers and 2 wives start doing work for congress. Imran gets a job with Rep Gregory Meeks. The next year he also getting Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jackie Speers to put him on their payroll. From there he manages to work in his brothers and Rao Abbasi on to the congressional payroll for an, as of yet, unspecified number of Congressmen (Somewhere above 30) Imran is pulling down somewhere around $150,000 and the others are getting between $100,000 and $150,000 apiece. Three times the normal salary for other staffers. How ya feelin' about your tax dollars now?
Most likely, the brothers ran a social engineering hack to bypass security protocols and compromised congressional data security. What does that mean? They asked for passwords and access to computer systems and networks, and their congressional clients handed them the access. Additionally they most likely ran a surveillance operation and compromised a number Congressional Representatives.
The brothers also established the frame work for Hezbollah to launder money for various items including narcotics to fund world wide operations. Either they did support Hezbollah or stumbled on the perfect operation.
Incidentally the operation is perfect for support for Iranian intelligence to follow the progress of the Iranian deal. Yes, I know Imran arrived in 2005, but these operations progress and evolve as opportunities present themselves.
No one knew how
Valerie Jarrett, obama's senior advisor, was born in Iran and maintained ties to Iran and CPUSA. The presumed next administration, hillary, had
Huma Abidin. She has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni group. Remember Iran, Shia, and the Saudis, Sunni, the Muslim Brotherhood are fighting for control of the Middle East. Now ask yourself why the Awan brothers were booking it to Iran before October 16th, 2016. This is supposition, but the pieces really look like they could fit. Especially if we have not entirely understood the nuances of the operation.
This looks very similar to Russian operations exposed in the
Venona papers and books like
Black Listed by History by M. Stanton Evans. A great read if your in to true Capitol Hill intrigue. McCarthy wasn't the man you think he was. I bring this up because these operations are much like the Cold War Era KGB Ops. Funny how the Iranians cozy up to the Russians and an intelligence operation that had their fingerprints all over it resembles something the GRU or FSB would roll out.
All of the facts in the piece are true and cited from news sources. Many of them were in several sources, however, a lot of the conclusions in this piece are suppositions, but they do fit together nicely. Each piece is supported and sets the foundation for the next piece. That is really what makes it work. I didn't know the answer when I started this piece. The facts drew me from one conclusion to the next. I am not posting this as truth, but asking for peer review.
UPDATE
Five Capitol Hill technology aides told The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group that members of Congress have displayed an inexplicable and intense loyalty towards the suspects who police say victimized them. The baffled aides wonder if the suspects are blackmailing representatives based on the contents of their emails and files, to which they had full access.
“I don’t know what they have, but they have something on someone. It’s been months at this point” with no arrests, said Pat Sowers, who has managed IT for several House offices for 12 years. “Something is rotten in Denmark.”
What do you think?
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