Brian4Liberty
08-14-2017, 11:34 AM
Why Is This Not a Story? (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/08/13/why_is_this_not_a_story_134735.html)
By Debra Saunders - August 13, 2017
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman known in political circles as DWS, is knee-deep in a scandal that involves a laptop, money and possible foreign entanglements.
Unlike the Trump Russian scandal, however, The Washington Post and New York Times have barely reported on the story, which has conservatives observing -- with President Donald Trump's Twitter account concurring -- that the mainstream media have a double standard.
In February, the House sergeant-at-arms yanked House computer network access for five information technology staffers who worked as shared employees for some 30 House Democrats. Capitol Police told members that the five were under criminal investigation for possibly violating security policies -- and asked members to update their security settings. By March, most Democrats had fired the five, if only because they could no longer do their jobs.
To the puzzlement of many Democrats and Republicans, Wasserman Schultz kept one of the five, Imran Awan, on the payroll, even though he could not do standard House IT work.
On July 24, federal authorities arrested Awan at Dulles Airport as the naturalized citizen was about to board a plane to his native Pakistan. According to an FBI affidavit, Awan had just wired $283,000 to Pakistan, $165,000 of it from an ill-gotten home-equity loan. The feds charged Awan with bank fraud, and then released him under supervision. Only then did Wasserman Schultz fire Awan.
Awan's wife, Hina Alvi, who was one of the fired IT workers, had left the country for Pakistan in March. While she had bought a round-trip ticket with a return date in September, FBI Special Agent Brandon C. Merriman wrote he "does not believe that Alvi has any intention to return to the United States."
Wasserman Schultz is no obscure member of Congress. Last year she had to resign as DNC chair after WikiLeaks revealed that she had tilted the Democratic primary in favor of Hillary Clinton, even though the national committee was duty-bound to remain neutral.
...
There is enough smoke to this story to merit intense news coverage. Yet The Washington Post, the federal government's hometown paper, had published only two stories on the Awan saga as of Tuesday, when the Post ran an explainer that looked at the story through two lenses -- one conservative, one liberal.
The "conservative media" angle: "A powerful Democratic congresswoman refused to fire an information technology aide after he's accused of stealing House computer equipment and potentially breaching security protocols."
The "liberal media" angle: "Powerful Democratic congresswoman protects Muslim IT staffer from what she suspects is religious discrimination. She fires him after he is charged with a seemingly unrelated crime."
For this story, the Post simply could not take a side. It's coverage of the Trump Russia probe shows no such hesitation.
...
More: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/08/13/why_is_this_not_a_story_134735.html
By Debra Saunders - August 13, 2017
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman known in political circles as DWS, is knee-deep in a scandal that involves a laptop, money and possible foreign entanglements.
Unlike the Trump Russian scandal, however, The Washington Post and New York Times have barely reported on the story, which has conservatives observing -- with President Donald Trump's Twitter account concurring -- that the mainstream media have a double standard.
In February, the House sergeant-at-arms yanked House computer network access for five information technology staffers who worked as shared employees for some 30 House Democrats. Capitol Police told members that the five were under criminal investigation for possibly violating security policies -- and asked members to update their security settings. By March, most Democrats had fired the five, if only because they could no longer do their jobs.
To the puzzlement of many Democrats and Republicans, Wasserman Schultz kept one of the five, Imran Awan, on the payroll, even though he could not do standard House IT work.
On July 24, federal authorities arrested Awan at Dulles Airport as the naturalized citizen was about to board a plane to his native Pakistan. According to an FBI affidavit, Awan had just wired $283,000 to Pakistan, $165,000 of it from an ill-gotten home-equity loan. The feds charged Awan with bank fraud, and then released him under supervision. Only then did Wasserman Schultz fire Awan.
Awan's wife, Hina Alvi, who was one of the fired IT workers, had left the country for Pakistan in March. While she had bought a round-trip ticket with a return date in September, FBI Special Agent Brandon C. Merriman wrote he "does not believe that Alvi has any intention to return to the United States."
Wasserman Schultz is no obscure member of Congress. Last year she had to resign as DNC chair after WikiLeaks revealed that she had tilted the Democratic primary in favor of Hillary Clinton, even though the national committee was duty-bound to remain neutral.
...
There is enough smoke to this story to merit intense news coverage. Yet The Washington Post, the federal government's hometown paper, had published only two stories on the Awan saga as of Tuesday, when the Post ran an explainer that looked at the story through two lenses -- one conservative, one liberal.
The "conservative media" angle: "A powerful Democratic congresswoman refused to fire an information technology aide after he's accused of stealing House computer equipment and potentially breaching security protocols."
The "liberal media" angle: "Powerful Democratic congresswoman protects Muslim IT staffer from what she suspects is religious discrimination. She fires him after he is charged with a seemingly unrelated crime."
For this story, the Post simply could not take a side. It's coverage of the Trump Russia probe shows no such hesitation.
...
More: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/08/13/why_is_this_not_a_story_134735.html