Debbie Wasserman Schultz must feel pretty safe in her bubble. Because every time you turn around, there she is again, poking the WikiLeaks bear.

It happened again earlier this week.

Wasserman Schultz was photographed at a City of Hollywood meeting with Evan Ross, a Miami Democratic leader and lobbyist, who made international news when he offered to kill WikiLeaks founder Julian Assage and whistleblower Edward Snowden. The photos from Hollywood raised eyebrows. The two of them, Wasserman Schultz and Ross, with their heads together: "They were obviously consorting, and it made me feel uncomfortable," a citizen attending the meeting told Sunshine State News.

Some of the photos are displayed on this page. And of course, they found their way to Twitter and some conservative DWS-watch blog sites (for instance here and here).

Said the story in Disobedient Media, "That (Wasserman) Schultz would appear personally with Ross, who had openly stated his willingness to kill WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has never been charged with a crime, fuels claims by those who view the Democratic Party establishment as hopelessly corrupt ..."

While I admit, this is not the most alarming piece of Debbie Wasserman Schultz news we've ever reported, it does establish a convergent pattern of computer-centric issues in the Democratic congresswoman's life that gets stranger each week.

Which she apparently is happy to parade in public.

You would think getting caught in her hacked emails showing a preference for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential primary would have been enough to humble the then-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Remember, WikiLeaks' Assange was only too happy to release her every word.

Exposing Hillary's heart on her sleeve -- and on the party brass she influenced -- cost Wasserman Schultz the national party chairmanship. The boos at the Democratic National Convention breakfast ... hard to believe they aren't still ringing in her ears.

Nevertheless, her computer-related decisions continued to haunt her.

The apparently trusting Wasserman Schultz kept IT aide Imran Awan on her congressional staff payroll until the day after Awan was arrested on bank fraud charges virtually at the Dulles Airport gate, trying to return to Pakistan.

The difference between Wasserman Schultz and other House Democrats who employed Awan for his Internet services is ... they fired him in March, just after Capitol Police put him under investigation; she kept him on until Tuesday, July 25, even though Awan had been barred from accessing the House's computer system since February.

What does an IT guy do in a congresswoman's office full-time for nearly six months when he's not allowed to touch a computer? Wasserman Schultz claims she kept him busy; a lot of people, including some of her colleagues, aren't satisfied by her explanation.

Next up was the mysteriously under-reported class-action lawsuit. Some 150 Democratic donors, many of them Bernie Sanders supporters, sued Wasserman Schultz for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and negligence -- saying in more common English she rigged the primary. It's over now. She escaped. The case was dismissed two weeks ago. In his ruling, federal Judge William Zloch never said Wasserman Schultz didn't give Clinton an edge, he said plaintiffs failed to show they suffered a "concrete injury particularized to them ... that could be tested in this Court."

And now here we are. Next thing you know Wasserman Schultz turns up at a meeting with Evan Ross. Poison meets poison.

We already covered Wasserman Schultz, who once had a promising future in the Democratic Party. Let's look for a moment at Ross, a budding young Democrat himself, who served as president of the Miami-Dade Young Democrats and was the Miami Democratic Party’s 2011-2012 district chair. At one point he was named “Young Democrat of the Year.” But, be honest, you put it all over social media you're ready to kill people, you name names, you confirm you meant what you said ... then issue an apology and expect people to believe it? All of a sudden that rising star takes a downward plunge. It's bound to happen.

You have to ask yourself why these two, Ross and Wasserman Schultz -- the WikiLeaks Wonders -- are hanging out together.

I can't speak for Ross. But Wasserman Schultz is a congresswoman with a constituency that depends on her judgment and a party leadership in Washington already wary of her behavior. There are a lot of eyes on her. Apparently she doesn't care.

Imran Awan, Evan Ross -- who says they're dangerous company? Either she's bold and admirable or clumsy and politically reckless. Time will tell.

Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith



