Muslim Brotherhood Operatives May Have Been Granted Access to Highly Sensitive Information.
“The process of settlement is a “Civilization-Jihadist Process” with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”
— Muslim Brotherhood excerpt from ‘An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America,’ 1981
As documented in last week’s article, a key element to achieving the Muslim Brotherhood’s objective, includes their members becoming active in government as well as penetrating the intelligence community.
On February 2, 2017, three brothers who managed information technology for members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence were relieved of their duties on suspicion that they accessed congressional computers without permission.
The brothers at the center of the investigation are Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan who have since been banned from computer networks at the House of Representatives. 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. The two committees deal with many of the nation’s most sensitive issues and documents, including those related to the war on terrorism.
The three men are “shared employees,” meaning they are hired by multiple offices, who then split their salaries and use them as needed for IT services.
The brothers, Pakistani Muslims, are suspected of serious violations, including accessing members’ computer networks without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress.
Jamal handled IT for Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who serves on both the intelligence and foreign affairs panels. Jamal also worked for Louisiana Democrat Rep. Cedric Richmond, who is on the Committee on Homeland Security.
Former Rep. Tammy Duckworth (now a Senator), an Illinois Democrat, employed Abid for IT work in 2016. She was a member of House committees dealing with the armed services, oversight, and Benghazi. Abid also worked for Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat who is a member of the foreign affairs committee. Abid has a prior criminal record and as well as a bankruptcy and multiple pending lawsuits.
Imran worked for Reps. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat on the intelligence committee as well as Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat who was previously the chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Notably, Imran also worked for Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat who is the second Muslim in Congress and the first Muslim on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and, more critically, is the ranking member on its Emerging Threats Subcommittee (which is responsible for counterterrorism oversight). He is also a member of the Department of Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture Subcommittee.
The Center for Security Policy has put together a well documented dossier of Rep. Carson’s connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, which I encourage you to read. In it, you will see examples of Carson sharing the stage at a CAIR banquet with Sirraj Wahaj, (an unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing) who has publicly stated,” You don’t get involved in politics because it’s the American thing to do. You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam.”
Carson has also publicly praised Tariq Ramadan who was barred from entering the U.S. for funding Islamic terrorists. Ramadan, a paid employee of the Iranian mullahcracy, is the grandson of Hasan Al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood
The dossier highlights many troubling associations, particularly given Rep. Carson’s highly sensitive committee appointments. But this recent data breach by the Awan brothers involving Democrats on key national security committees presents serious problems.
Why were the Awan brothers, one of whom had a criminal record, allowed to work in such a sensitive position? How did these brothers pass a background check? Was any classified information compromised as a result of these alleged breaches? Why have no arrests been made?
Notes:
- Rep. Carson and fellow Democrat colleagues Luis Guiterez, Jim Himes, Terri Sewell, Jackie Speier, Mike Quigley, Eric Swalwell and Patrick Murphy (some of whom employed the Awan brothers) have been demanding (since March of 2016) additional security clearance for their staffers.
- Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said the investigation regarding the data breach was still ongoing, but no arrests have been made. Staff were “asked to update their security settings.”
- Security-sensitive jobs typically require background checks for credit and legal problems that can lead to compromising positions for employees or contractors with access to sensitive and valuable information.
- Jamal, who public records suggest is only 22 years old, first began working in the House when he was 20. He was paid nearly $160,000 a year, three times the average House IT staff salary, according to InsideGov, which tracks congressional salaries. Abid was paid $161,000 and Imran $165,000.
