by Luke Rosiak

 – Former House IT aide Imran Awan’s attorney, Chris Gowen, filed a memo asking that his client serve no jail time for his bank fraud conviction.
 – He told an Obama-appointed judge that Trump is an “incoherent,” “desperate” president of the “Untied States.”
 – He asked for lenience by saying that Republican congressmen are “pathetic.”

An attorney filed a sentencing memo on behalf of former House IT aide Imran Awan, claiming that President Donald Trump, other Republicans, and “conspiratorial media” attacks serve as a sufficient substitute for jail time for his client’s bank fraud conviction.

Attorney Chris Gowen, a former aide to Hillary Clinton, argued to Judge Tanya Chutkan, a President Barack Obama-appointee, that Imran should be spared jail, in part because of Trump, who engaged in “incoherent rambling” about the former IT aide.

“Considering … the conduct of several government officials, including the president of the United States, Imran Awan respectfully requests this court to sentence him to time served with a fine of $4,004,” Gowen wrote in the sentencing memo filed Wednesday.

Imran pleaded guilty to lying on a loan application on July 3. He was also banned from the House network in February 2017 after congressional investigators alleged he made “unauthorized access” to House computers and other cyber violations, but faced no charges related to this.

Awan will be sentenced on Tuesdayand prosecutors have only asked for probation.

Gowen claimed not a single problem with Imran’s Capitol Hill conduct was found.

After an investigation by the House Inspector General concluded that Imran made the “unauthorized access,” the House’s top law enforcement officer wrote that the former IT aide is “an ongoing and serious riskto the House of Representatives, possibly threatening the integrity of our information systems.”

Gowen suggested that Trump, Republicans and the media were responsible for Imran losing his Capitol Hill job, despite that the former IT aide was banned from the House computer network immediately following the internal investigation and before anyone outside of a small cadre on Capitol Hill knew about it.

“The 18 months of insane media attention and false public accusations against Imran unfairly cost Imran his job (not one accusation about Imran’s work on the Hill has been sustained),” the sentencing memo read.

But the Capitol Police said in a July 3, 2018 statement: “After finding numerous violations of House IT internal controls during the course of its investigation, the United States Capitol Police referred these findings back to House officials for administrative action.”

The alleged wrongdoing the House investigations uncovered involved violations of cybersecurity, a topic that Democrats have frequently elevated and called for increased fundingfor. Gowen seemed to obscure these violations, citing an op-ed in The Washington Post by former Democratic New York Rep. Steve Israel that describes the unauthorized access to computers as “using multiple usernames and passwords to skirt House rules and purchase office items.”

Gowen dismissed these allegations, and said the concern about violations in this case served to “distract” from the investigation into Trump and Russia, calling the president “desperate.”

Despite the IG’s findings and other violations apparent in public records, such as hiding LLCs – one of which took $100,000 from an Iraqi government minister – from House ethics disclosure forms, the Department of Justice, without explanation, said it could substantiate only the bank fraud charge.

Imran sent nearly $300,000 to Pakistan shortly after learning he was under investigation. Imran was arrested at the airport intending to fly to the country.

“The irony that Donald J. Trump, of all people, expressed outrage about a case involving bank fraud is not lost on the defendant’s counsel but Imran is not before the court to discuss the president’s financial history, he is here to present his story,” Gowen told the judge.

Rep. Israel’s op-ed in The Washington Post refers to “office items” — receipts for equipment that the House IG found were falsified in ways that made it impossible for the House to track whether equipment disappeared. Gowen’s law partner previously said members of Congress “expect” staff to “to expedite things” and “adjust the pricing.”

Gowen also said Trump and Republican congressmen, including Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, acted “without any shred of decency” in regards to Imran.

“Rep. [Louie] Gohmert and others staged an informal congressional ‘hearing’ on Imran’s case that was simultaneously pathetic, and a chilling demonstration of the propagandist power,” he added.

Gowen said Republican Reps. Gohmert of Texas, Steve King of Iowa and Ron DeSantis of Florida engaged in “unhinged speculation.” Gohmert, for example, commented on the fact that Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s laptop was found in a phone booth on Capitol Hill at midnightwith Imran’s Pakistani ID on top — months after he was banned from connecting to the House network.

Gohmert told The Daily Caller News Foundation that leaving the laptop “was a deliberate act by a cunning suspect” because “Imran Awan is a calculating person who made great efforts to cover his tracks, both electronically and physically,” Gohmert pointed out.

House leadership never told members or the public about the discovered laptop, which led concerned members to look into the situation, particularly after Wasserman Schultz threatened the Capitol Policechief with “consequences” if he didn’t return the evidence.

Gowen also pointed out that King told TheDCNF that Imran “should have been locked up in jail a long time ago with all his family members.”

And Grassley, an Iowa Republican, “wrote to the acting secretary of Homeland Security demanding that she produce the ‘Alien file’ for Imran and his entire extended family,” Gowen wrote in the memo. Imran began working with Capitol Hill data as a contractor in 2000 and was hired by former Florida Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler as an employee in January 2004 — the same year he became a citizen, according to Gowen’s memo, and Grassley was seeking to determine exactly when.

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Luke Rosiak is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Luke on Twitter.

This is the latest in an extensive series of reporting about Imran Awan and the DNC/Congressional IT Data Scandal.

Read more:

• Documents
• Timeline
• Summary: 14 Things To Know
• Attorney Tells Judge Imran Deserves No Jail Time Because Trump Is ‘Desperate, Incoherent Rambler’
• Here’s the Inspector General Report On Imran Awan
• DOJ Agrees Not To Prosecute Imran Awan For House Cybersecurity And Theft, Contradicting House Findings
• In Newly Obtained Memo, Congress’s Top Cop Said House Democratic Caucus Server VANISHED
• Dem IT Vendor Says Imran Tried To Sell Access To Office Of Then-Rep. Gwen Graham
• Rep. Yvette Clarke’s Chief Of Staff Tried To Expose Suspected Theft Ring On Capitol Hill, Was Met With Resistance
• Days After Awan’s Wife Told Police She Was Being Kept ‘Like A Slave,’ Gunmen Shot At Her
• Sources: Wasserman Schultz Screamed At House Officials To Kill Hacking Probe, Intervened In Pakistani Criminal Matter
• Imran Awan Now Allegedly Trying ‘To Hide His Money’ With LLC, Gold — While DOJ Negotiates
• Capitol Police Accidentally Gave Evidence To House Hacking Suspect’s Defense Attorney
• Awan Knew Witness Emailed FBI, Lawyer Lashed Out At Her, She Says She’s Been Wiretapped, Robbed, Threatened
• Awan Lawyer Demanded Witness Reveal What She Told FBI, Probed About ‘Radical Islamic Activities’
• Abid Awan Attorney Mocks ‘Wacko Lunatic’ Widow As Abid Wins $45,000 Payout
• Trump Is Right: A ‘Pakistani Mystery Man’ Has Documents Wasserman Schultz Didn’t Want Prosecutors To See
• Summary: Fifteen Things To Know About ‘Pakistani Mystery Man’ Imran Awan
• Father Gave USB To Pakistani Official, Claimed Power To ‘Change US President,’ Ex-Partner Alleges
• Hearing Reveals Congress Provided ‘No Supervision’ Of IT Aides, Missed Red Flags, But Members Block Proposed Reforms
• Congress And Wasserman Schultz Negligent For Allowing Hacking Suspects Continued Access, Expert Says
• Exempted From Background Checks Despite Policy
• Long History Of Alleged Witness Intimidation, Evidence Tampering
• Ethics Complaint: Rep. Cleaver Said Imran Was His IT Guy — But He Wasn’t On His Payroll, A McDonald’s Worker Was
• Why Did FBI Let A Hacking Suspect Leave The Country?
• Intel Committee Dems ‘Dangerous,’ ‘Negligent’ In Handling Of Breach
• Internal Probe Reported ‘Unauthorized Access’ To Data; Officials Misrepresented Findings As ‘Theft’
• House IT Aides Ran Car Dealership With Markings Of A Nefarious Money Laundering Operation
• Becerra Tried To Block Awan From House Democratic Caucus Server, But Logins Continued; He Didn’t Go To Cops
• Hard Drive Tied to Wasserman Schultz Is Central To Imran Awan Case
• 18 Months In, Dem IT Aides Not Charged With Hill Crimes Despite Evidence
• Used Political Influence To Have Fraud Charges Dropped In Pakistan
• Own Wife Turns, Accuses Him Of Fraud, Violent Threats
• Imran Awan ‘Very Strongly’ Wants To Block Review Of DWS’ Hard Drive
• Lawyer Implicates Congressmen
• Sending Money To Police Officer In Pakistan
• Funneling ‘Massive’ Data Off Congressional Server, Dems Claim It’s Child’s Homework
• ‘Like a Slave’: Three Muslim Women, At Least One Of Them Bloodied, Called Police on Imran
• Had Secret Server, Caught Falsifying Evidence To Cover It Up
• Imran Still Has Copy Of Laptop DWS Said Has Sensitive Leg-Branch Info
• DWS Laptop Found at 3AM In Phone Booth With Letter To Prosecutors
• Awan Asks Judge To Remove GPS, Citing Possible Emergency With Kids–Who Are In Pakistan
• Has Secret, Still-Active House Account–[email protected]–Linked To Intelligence Specialist
• DWS ‘Islamophobia’ Claim Prompts Angered Witnesses To Go Public
• Rep. Yvette Clarke Quietly Signed Away $120,000 In Missing Equipment
• Imran, Hina Indicted For Conspiracy Against U.S.
• DWS Now Says Laptop She Sought To Keep From Police Was Awan’s, Not Hers
• Liquidating $1.8M In Real Estate When Arrested, Some Still Pending
• DWS Seemingly Planned To Pay Suspect Even While In Pakistan
• Lawyer Is Longtime Clinton Associate
• Arrested At Airport After Wiring $300k To Pakistan
• FBI Seized Smashed Hard Drives From Home
• Ex-DNC Head ‘Negotiating’ With Police Over Letting Them See Evidence
• Dems Tying Themselves Into Knots To Ignore Criminal Probe
• ‘You’d Like Him:’ Associates Describe ‘Cunning,’ Charismatic Con Artist
• In Personal Lives, Evidence Of Massive Cons
• House Dems Hired A Fired McDonald’s Worker As Email Administrator
• DWS Admits To Violating Network Security, Blames House
• Wasserman Schultz Threatened Police Chief For Gathering Evidence
• Suspect Has Fled To Pakistan, Relative Says
• House IT Aides Fear Suspects In Hill Breach Are Blackmailing Members
• Read the Court Docs Detailing Their Greed, Ruthlessness
• Paul Ryan: Capitol Police Getting ‘Assistance’
• Brothers Could Read Every Email Of Dozens Of Congressmen
• …Also Had Access To DNC Emails
• …Allegedly Kept Stepmom In ‘Captivity’ To Access Offshore Cash
• …Received $4 Million From Dem Reps
• …Owed Money To Hezbollah-Connected Fugitive
• …Secretly Took $100K In Iraqi Money
• Brothers Had Massive Debts, Years Of Suspicious Activity
• House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs Committee Members IT Compromised

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