Trump: Don’t let Dems’ IT worker, Wasserman Schultz ‘off the hook’

President Trump on Thursday urged the Justice Department to hold Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and one of her former information technology aides accountable amid reports that the former staffer was set to plead guilty to bank fraud charges.

“Our Justice Department must not let Awan & Debbie Wasserman Schultz off the hook. 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!” Trump tweeted.

Our Justice Department must not let Awan & Debbie Wasserman Schultz off the hook. 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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2018

Fox News reported on Wednesday that the staffer, Imran Awan, and his wife have a plea agreement hearing scheduled for July 3. The court filing did not disclose any details about the possible deal.

The couple was charged last summer in a scheme in which he and his wife allegedly provided false information about two properties to obtain home equity lines of credit. They then sent the profits to individuals in Pakistan, according to Fox News. 

Both Awan and his wife worked for House Democrats, but were fired last year after they were tied to an ongoing investigation into equipment and data theft. Most lawmakers had fired Awan in February, though Wasserman Schultz did not cut ties with the aide until July.

Awan was later arrested in late July on bank fraud charges while trying to leave the country.

While Awan had worked for multiple Democratic lawmakers, he had most recently been employed as a technology adviser to Wasserman Schultz, who chaired the Democratic National Committee (DNC) until just before the 2016 elections.

“I’m focused on doing my job,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement to The Hill. “Donald Trump should focus on doing his.”

Trump appeared to take interest in Awan earlier this year, seemingly referencing him in a tweet in April.

In the tweet, Trump called Awan the “Pakistani mystery man” and suggested that he possessed incriminating documents on Democrats.

“Just heard the Campaign was sued by the Obstructionist Democrats. This can be good news in that we will now counter for the DNC Server that they refused to give to the FBI, the Debbie Wasserman Schultz Servers and Documents held by the Pakistani mystery man and Clinton Emails,” Trump tweeted.

Just heard the Campaign was sued by the Obstructionist Democrats. This can be good news in that we will now counter for the DNC Server that they refused to give to the FBI, the Debbie Wasserman Schultz Servers and Documents held by the Pakistani mystery man and Clinton Emails.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018

The president has recently ramped up calls for scrutiny of the DNC server in his ongoing attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has called the investigation an “excuse” by Democrats for losing the election.

Russians hacked DNC emails in the months before the 2016 election. Many of those emails were later published by WikiLeaks.

Updated at 11:32 a.m.