<p class="p1">Florida Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://data.rollcall.com/members/19822?rel=memberLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Debbie Wasserman Schultz</a> defended<a shape="rect" href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-reg-wasserman-schultz-discusses-imran-awan-20170802-story,amp.html"> keeping a fired IT worker on her payroll</a> despite the fact he was banned from the House network and fired by another member of Congress. </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Wasserman Schultz said it would have been easier to fire Imran Awan.</span></p><p class="p1">“I believe that I did the right thing, and I would do it again,” she told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper. “There are times when you can’t be afraid to stand alone, and you have to stand up for what’s right. It would have been easier for me to just fire him.”</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Wasserman Schultz did fire Awan after he was arrested on bank fraud charges as he was attempting to leave the country. An <a shape="rect" href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-reg-wasserman-schultz-aide-arrested-20170725-story.html"><span class="s2">affidavit </span></a>filed an FBI special agent said it was likely Awan and his wife tried to defraud the Congressional Federal Credit Union.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">But Wasserman Schultz said she thinks that Awan was put under increased scrutiny because he is Muslim.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“When their investigation was reviewed with me, I was presented with no evidence of anything that they were being investigated for,” she said. “And so that, in me, gave me great concern that his due process rights were being violated. That there were racial and ethnic profiling concerns that I had.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">When chiefs of staff in Congress were told Awan was under investigation in February, Wasserman Schultz worked with the House chief administration officer to create a job that would allow him to work until the investigation was complete.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“He didn’t have access to the network, but he was able to give us guidance and advice and troubleshoot on a wide variety of other technological issues,” she said.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Though Awan worked for other members, Wasserman Schultz has received the most criticism for hiring him since she is the former head of the Democratic National Committee, and questions have been raised whether he was involved in the hacking scandal that ended her tenure as chairwoman.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Fellow Florida Rep. <a shape="rect" class="memberLink" title="Click to view member info in a new window" href="https://data.rollcall.com/members/46138?rel=memberLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ron DeSantis</a>, a Republican, criticized Wasserman Schulz and said the topic could be a security breach. He has <a shape="rect" href="https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/rep-desantis-calls-wasserman-schultz-testimony-former-employee">called for an investigation into the affair</a>.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“There’s just a lot of behavior that is not easy to explain,” he said.</span></p><div id="cqrcPostAdditional"></div>
