Only someone as brazenly arrogant as Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz could claim her own irresponsible behavior as a civic virtue.
The former Democratic Party chair insists she “did the right thing” by not firing an IT aide after being warned he was under criminal investigation, “and I would do it again.”
Not only did she stand by Imran Awan, she tried to stonewall Capitol Hill investigators and even threatened them with “consequences” if they didn’t back off.
Awan is now charged with bank fraud — but that’s the least of the story, which she chalks up entirely to anti-Muslim bias.
He allegedly arranged a fraudulent credit-union loan that was then wrapped in a $283,000 wire transfer to Pakistan just weeks after he learned he was under investigation for stolen computer equipment.
Awan had worked for dozens of top Democrats since 2004, starting with Queens’ own Rep. Gregory Meeks. In February, they all fired him after learning he was suspected of secretly accessing members’ computers and transferring files to remote servers.
All but Wasserman Schultz, that is.
She kept him on the payroll, even after smashed hard drives were found at his home and after Awan’s wife — also on Congress’ payroll, with four other relatives — fled the country with their three young daughters, whom she’d suddenly pulled out of school.
Court documents also accuse the Awan family cabal of bankruptcy fraud, life insurance fraud, tax fraud and extortion.
And they likely had access to the accounts of members of the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees, and so to classified information.
Awan himself was arrested while trying to leave for Pakistan, via Qatar. But Wasserman Schultz still pooh-poohs any suggestion he was trying to flee the country.
It’s bad enough that she willingly turned a blind eye to a potential national-security scandal. She shouldn’t pretend she did so to protect the Constitution.