Background Checks for 'We' Not for 'Thee'

This article is my own work published with Disobedient Media

According to a new report by the Daily Caller, all 44 House Democrats who employed members of the Awan family chose to exempt the family from background checks.

The Daily Caller relates that House security policy, “…requires offices to fill out a form attesting that they’ve initiated background checks, but it also includes a loophole allowing them to simply say that another member vouched for them.”

The Daily Caller further notes that had House Democrats performed proper background checks on members of the family, numerous red flags would have been raised, thus preventing their access to sensitive information.

These red flags include: Abid Awan’s $1.1 million bankruptcy filed in 2012; six lawsuits filed against Abid and his company; and at least three misdemeanor convictions including for DUI and driving on a suspended license, according to Virginia court records.

The Daily Caller notes: “If a screening had caught those, what officials say happened next might have been averted. The House inspector general reported on Sept. 20, 2016, that shortly before the election members of the group were logging into servers of members they didn’t work for, logging in using congressmen’s personal usernames, uploading data off the House network, and behaving in ways that suggested “nefarious purposes” and that “steps are being taken to conceal their activity.”

Disobedient Media has extensively detailed how the Awan family had direct access to our nation’s most sensitive information from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, as well as Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s iPad password, meaning that the brothers also had direct access to the notorious DNC emails.

Last summer, Imran Awan was arrested while trying to flee the country and was indicted by a grand jury for attempting to wire $283,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union to bank accounts in Pakistan.

However, in light of the lack of background checks for Awans, it seems particularly hypocritical of House Democrats to demand everyday American citizens to be required to undergo background checks when purchasing a firearm or even ammunition.

On March 22, Debbie Wassermann Schultz (FL) introduced a bill in the House titled H.R. 5383: Ammunition Background Check Act of 2018. Wassermann Schultz announced her support for the legislation, tweeting “It requires more than just a gun to take an innocent life. It also takes bullets. We need to do all we can to make sure neither of them end up in the wrong hands.”

It is particularly ironic that Wasserman Schutlz introduced the bill, given her key role in the Awan scandal and the lack of background checks involved in the affair.

Wasserman Schultz, who employed Imran Awan, received support for her bill requiring background checks for ammunition from other House Democrats who also employed members of the Awan family. Such members include: Ted Deutch (FL); Mark Takano (CA); Katherine Clark (MA); Emanuel Cleaver (MO); and Lois Frankel (FL).

In March of 2017, House Democrats who employed members of the Awan family also supported H.R. 1612: Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2017, which would require “criminal background checks on all firearms transactions occurring at gun shows.”

House Democrats who supported this bill included: Joe Crowley (NY); Robin Kelly (IL); Gregory Meeks (NY); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL); Ted Deutch (FL); Lois Frankel (FL); John Sarbanes (MD); Seth Moulton (MA); and Joyce Birdson Beatty (OH).

As previously stated, none of the House Democrats listed above felt that it was necessary for members of the Awan family to undergo proper background checks before having access to information that, to a terrorist, criminal or nefarious actor, is quite literally a “loaded gun”.

Americans should ask themselves why members of Congress feel it is necessary that such burdens be pushed on the public, while exempting themselves and their employees from the very same process.