https://www.washingtonpost.com/inve...ffcabeff946_story.html?utm_term=.28f70c63f4fe
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Imran Awan pleaded guilty to a relatively minor offense unrelated to his work on Capitol Hill: making a false statement on a bank loan application. U.S. prosecutors said they would not recommend jail time.
But the agreement included an unusual passage that described the scope of the investigation and cleared Awan of a litany of conspiracy theories promulgated on Internet blogs, picked up by right-leaning news sites and fanned by Trump on Twitter.
“The Government has uncovered no evidence that your client violated federal law with respect to the House computer systems,” including stealing equipment or illegally accessing or transferring information, prosecutors wrote in an 11-page plea agreement dated and signed Tuesday.
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The ensuing investigation attracted aggressive coverage by conservative media outlets — led by the Daily Caller — and prompted calls from Trump to prosecute Awan, whom the president referred to in one tweet as the “Pakistani mystery man.”
The case has highlighted Trump’s willingness to lobby for specific outcomes of federal criminal investigations and to suggest a coverup by his own Justice Department. Trump also attempted to tie Awan to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee server — a breach that intelligence agencies have concluded was directed by Russia.
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“Our Justice Department must not let Awan & Debbie Wasserman Schultz off the hook,” he tweeted last month, mentioning the Democratic congresswoman from Florida and former chairwoman of the DNC, after a court filing indicated prosecutors were in plea negotiations. “The Democrat I.T. scandal is a key to much of the corruption we see today. They want to make a ‘plea deal’ to hide what is on their Server. Where is Server? Really bad!”
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia did not mention Trump or any media publications by name in the agreement.
But the agreement included an exhaustive list of “public allegations” that prosecutors investigated and shot down, including that investigators took custody of the House Democratic server.
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Imran Awan pleaded guilty to a relatively minor offense unrelated to his work on Capitol Hill: making a false statement on a bank loan application. U.S. prosecutors said they would not recommend jail time.
But the agreement included an unusual passage that described the scope of the investigation and cleared Awan of a litany of conspiracy theories promulgated on Internet blogs, picked up by right-leaning news sites and fanned by Trump on Twitter.
“The Government has uncovered no evidence that your client violated federal law with respect to the House computer systems,” including stealing equipment or illegally accessing or transferring information, prosecutors wrote in an 11-page plea agreement dated and signed Tuesday.
………..
The ensuing investigation attracted aggressive coverage by conservative media outlets — led by the Daily Caller — and prompted calls from Trump to prosecute Awan, whom the president referred to in one tweet as the “Pakistani mystery man.”
The case has highlighted Trump’s willingness to lobby for specific outcomes of federal criminal investigations and to suggest a coverup by his own Justice Department. Trump also attempted to tie Awan to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee server — a breach that intelligence agencies have concluded was directed by Russia.
………….
“Our Justice Department must not let Awan & Debbie Wasserman Schultz off the hook,” he tweeted last month, mentioning the Democratic congresswoman from Florida and former chairwoman of the DNC, after a court filing indicated prosecutors were in plea negotiations. “The Democrat I.T. scandal is a key to much of the corruption we see today. They want to make a ‘plea deal’ to hide what is on their Server. Where is Server? Really bad!”
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia did not mention Trump or any media publications by name in the agreement.
But the agreement included an exhaustive list of “public allegations” that prosecutors investigated and shot down, including that investigators took custody of the House Democratic server.
