Wasserman Schultz Admits Hill IT Security Violations, Blames House Administrators for Not Stopping Her
Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose office equipment U.S. Capitol Police seized in a criminal investigation into congressional network security violations, admitted she violated official information security policy and blamed the House’s chief administrative officer for not stopping her.
In a May 17 appropriations hearing on Congress’ administrative budget, Wasserman Shultz said she had violated the policies “for years and years and years.” She also sought to find out how much House authorities might know about her internet usage, asking, “Are members monitored?”
Police are investigating Wasserman Schultz’s longtime information technology aide, Imran Awan, for theft and funneling congressional data from members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee on Homeland Security, and Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Yet Wasserman Schultz lashed out at investigators and changed Awan’s title to “adviser” instead of firing him after House authorities banned him from the network. She resigned as Democratic National Committee chairman in July 2016 after unidentified hackers accessed the DNC’s emails, which WikiLeaks later published.
“If a member is using an application outside of the House infrastructure and the protection … [of] our cybersecurity network, they’re in violation of House policy?” she asked John Ramsey, the House’s information security officer, at the previously unreported appropriations hearing. (For more from the author of “Wasserman Schultz Admits Hill IT Security Violations, Blames House Administrators for Not Stopping Her” please click HERE)
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