Nonpartisan Government Watchdog Group Calls For Wasserman Schultz Investigation

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a nonpartisan government watchdog group, today called for the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). According to the Washington Post, FACT’s complaint focuses on whether Congressman Wasserman Schultz broke House Ethics rules when she continued to pay an Imran Awan, an IT aide, right up until he tried to flee the country:

“A conservative anti-corruption watchdog group is asking for an ethics investigation of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) after former House IT aide Imran Awan was apprehended trying the flee the country. In a complaint that will be filed Monday, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) asks if Wasserman Schultz violated the House’s rules by continuing to pay Awan after he was cut off from the House computer system.”

The alleged rule violation stems from the length of time the Congresswoman kept Awan on her payroll after his access to the IT systems had been revoked. As FACT’s Executive Director Matthew Whitaker writes, Congressman Wasserman Schultz kept paying Awan even after he was “barred from accessing the House computer system”:

“’It appears that Representative Wasserman Schultz permitted an employee to remain on the House payroll in violation of House Ethics Rules,’ FACT’s Matthew Whitaker writes in the letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics. ‘After Awan was barred from accessing the House computer system, Wasserman Schultz continued to pay Awan with taxpayer funds for IT consulting—a position that he could not reasonably be able to perform.’”

As the disgraced former Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz has been under scrutiny for years. After this complaint from FACT, her handling of the growing Awan scandal looks to be a major new focus of attention.