NOTHING SUSPICIOUS HERE: Wasserman Schultz Seemingly Planned To Pay Suspect Even While He Lived In Pakistan.

Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz seemingly planned to pay cyber-probe suspect and IT aide Imran Awan even while he was living in Pakistan, if the FBI hadn’t stopped him from leaving the U.S. Monday. Public statements and congressional payroll records suggest she also appears to have known that his wife, a fellow IT staffer, left the country for good months ago — while she was also a criminal suspect.

In all, six months of actions reveal a decision to continue paying a man who seemingly could not have been providing services to her, and who a mountain of evidence suggests was a liability. The man long had access to all of Wasserman Schultz’s computer files, work emails and personal emails, and he was recently accused by a relative in court documents of wiretapping and extortion.

Records also raise questions about whether the Florida Democrat permitted Awan to continue to access computers after House-wide authorities banned him from the network Feb. 2. Not only did she keep him on staff after the ban, but she also did not have any other IT person to perform necessary work that presumably would have arisen during a months-long period, according to payroll records.

Let me add that the Daily Caller has owned this story. There’s been some coverage from the Miami Herald and Politico, but the Caller has done the heavy lifting, and by all appearances they’ve done it responsibly, thoroughly, and well.

Flashback: House IT Aides Fear Suspects In Hill Breach Are Blackmailing Members With Their Own Data.