Imran Awan was an IT staffer of Congresswomen and former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Shultz. Her was arrested on July 25th, attempting to flee to Pakistan, where his family lives and he wired $300,000. He was arrested, at the airport, for bank fraud. As many have pointed out, nothing about this case seems to make sense, especially for a simple bank fraud charge. Why did the Awan’s get paid far above the average for IT workers when they were employed? why did Debbie Wasserman Shultz keep Imran Awan on the payroll even after he was under investigation and other Democrats in Congress had let him go and he was barred from House servers, for nearly 6 months? Did Imran Awan know anything about the DNC “hacking” since he had access to Debbie Wasserman Shultz’s devices when she was DNC Chairwoman? How much access to key American mainframes and serves did Awan have access to, including the mainframe of the House Intelligence Committee and the (then) head of the DNC’s iPad? Why did Debbie Wasserman-Shultz threaten US Capital Police with consequences if they did not return to her Imran Awan’s laptop? Why were servers and other items smashed by Imran Awan in his residence?

The most prevalent question may be why does this IT staffer have such a prominent and Clinton connected lawyer representing him? I thought this was a basic bank fraud case? Well, if the picture (above) with Bill Clinton isn’t enough to spark questions, the history of this lawyer will spark even more.

A user on /r/The_Donald made this connection.

Jesse Isaac Winograd is the attorney working for the Gowen firm on the Awan case. This person has previously defended a CIA agent in the leak of classified intelligence. How does a guy arrested for lying on a mortgage application end up with not only a former Clinton employee (Gowen) representing him, but also a lawyer who has experience in national security and intelligence matters (Winograd)? Doesn’t it seem a bit much for a bank fraud case?

While that sounds like the beginning of a rambling conspiracy theorist, they aren’t wrong. Jesse Winograd represented former CIA officer John Kiriakou in the case United States v. Kiriakou.

On April 5, 2012, Kiriakou was indicted for one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, three counts of violating the Espionage Act, and one count of making false statements for allegedly lying to the Publications Review Board of the CIA. On April 13, Kiriakou pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on bail. Starting September 12, 2012, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia conducted closed Classified Information Procedures Act hearings in Kiriakou’s case. On October 22, 2012, he agreed to plead guilty to one count of passing classified information to the media thereby violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act; his plea deal spared journalists from testifying in a trial. All other charges were dropped.

This shows that Jesse Winograd has experience with defending cases of leaked classified intelligence, something many believe Imran Awan is being investigated for. You may be thinking this is one case, maybe he’s just a defense lawyer. Well, don’t let me speak for Mr. Winograd, let his own firm’s website speak for him.

…Trout Cacheris & Janis PLLC. There, Mr. Winograd handled all manner of white collar crime, government investigations, and complex civil litigation, as well as representing clients before professional disciplinary boards and security clearance matters. Mr. Winograd’s varied practice includes defending clients accused of violating the Espionage Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, mail and wire fraud statutes, government contracting violations, as well as drug and traffic matters.

Imran Awan is a foreign national, from Pakistan. He had access to classified information. If this is a simple case of lying on a mortgage, why is such a prominent and experienced lawyer, especially in dealing with classified leaks, defending this client?