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Sunday, October 6, 2024

Can a Pakistani save Trump?

News Analysis |

Donald Trump, who managed to get into the White House after an involuntary support of Pakistani-origin lady, is now enlisting the help of a Pakistani-origin man, who can, arguably, save his presidency, that has been struck hard by the multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by his political rivals, Democrats.

The tycoon-turned-president is facing multiple charges from Russia probe to his illicit relationships, however, the lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee on Friday, in federal District Court in Manhattan, directly alleges Trump of having Kremlin’s support before the presidential polls in 2016.

Although the FBI had closed investigations into the private e-mail server saga of Hillary Clinton, they interviewed Huma Abedin reportedly for two times, however, the former bigwig of Hillary’s team is now living a private life.

In the lawsuit, that could dent the reputation of Donald Trump, Democrats have alleged that Trump was abreast of the cyber-attack conducted by Russia on the DNC servers following which information ‘damaging’ to Hillary Clinton was released by WikiLeaks, months before the elections.

Although Moscow might not feel threatened by the lawsuit, owing to immunity and legal loopholes, the complaint has caused a stir in the circles close to Trump because the accused include Trump’s campaign officials, his son Donald Trump Jr, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and other gunslingers of the United States and Moscow.

Read more: Trump could freeze $2bn of Pakistan aid over militant havens

The bigger question has been raised by the response of Donald Trump after the filing of the complaint as he has alluded to some documents, in possession of a Pakistani that could rescue him out of the current crisis.

Apparently, Trump, who accused Pakistan of ‘lying’ and ‘deceit’ at the start of 2018, would now be looking forward to some documents held by a ‘mysterious Pakistani’ which he has not identified, however, delving into the details of Russia-US skirmish in the backdrop of presidential elections, an I.T expert named Imran Awam seems to be the man in question.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/987470932989050881

The 37-year-old headed to the US as a youngster but earned a degree from Johns Hopkins, Maryland and finally became a US citizen in 2004. Awam came close to a senior official of former Democratic Party, Debbie Wasserman Schultz – who later became the chairwoman of DNC – in 2005 and became his staffer, plus arranged jobs for his wife Hina Alvi in 2007, and brother Jamal in 2014.

Read more: Trump’s Pakistan crisis presents opportunity for Putin

The suspicion regarding the role of Awan and his relatives arose in early 2017 when it was accused that they stole equipment from 45 Congressional offices and made them available to Russian intelligence. Although Awan was fired from his IT job and was barred from accessing the computers in early 2017, his association with Debbie Wasserman Schultz continued till July after he was arrested on charges of bank fraud.

Democrats have alleged that Trump was abreast of the cyber-attack conducted by Russia on the DNC servers following which information ‘damaging’ to Hillary Clinton was released by WikiLeaks, months before the elections.

The role of Hina Alvi, Awan’s wife, also became suspicious when it was revealed that the lady successfully headed to Pakistan in March 2017, however, Awan is still in the US and under the radar of Capitol Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The timing of the lawsuit is also crucial because Imran Awan, skipped the last hearing of the bank fraud case, on March 8th, but the judge Tanya S. Chutkan adjourned the hearing till May 4th.

Read more: Trump turning on Pakistan highlights American naivety

Interestingly, Awan’s attorney Chris Gown is not alien to the US power corridor as he was  a former aide to Bill and Hillary Clinton, and contends that the Muslim identity of his client was the reason for prosecution. Interestingly, Awan is not the only one to be under the radar of US authorities. Prior to the Faisalabad-born buy, another lady, Huma Abedin also made headlines in the US media, for her close association with Hillary Clinton and a blunder- which became a nightmare for the former First Lady and a source of support for Trump, paving his way to the Oval Office.

The suspicion regarding the role of Awan and his relatives arose in early 2017 when it was accused that they stole equipment from 45 Congressional offices and made them available to Russian intelligence.

Abedin, then Clinton’s deputy chief of staff at the State Department, came to limelight when in October 2016, reports emerged that the Federal Bureau of Investigations found email’s related to Hillary Clinton’s private server case on the laptop’s of Abedin’s husband,  Anthony D. Weiner’s. Just 11 days before the elections, James Comey, then FBI director, opened the probe, that visibly dented Hillary, who was all set to become first female president of United States.

Read more: Fasih Ahmed: Pakistan’s very own Tweeting Trump

Although Huma Abedin was born in Saudi Arabia, his Pakistani origin was also highlighted by the Pro-Trump officials, who campaigned that Hillary would be offering more support to Pakistan with probable appointment of Abedin, to her administration, stirring concerns in the Indian lobby, who then launched anti-Pakistan campaign, especially targeting Huma Abedin’s ancestral links.

Although the FBI had closed investigations into the private e-mail server saga of Hillary Clinton, they interviewed Huma Abedin reportedly for two times, however, the former bigwig of Hillary’s team is now living a private life. Though Pakistan and the United States are having fractured ties after the outlandish New Year’s tweet of Donald Trump, it seems that the role of Pakistanis in US power corridor has not lessened. Behind Trump’s landslide success, was a Pakistani-origin lady, though unwillingly, and behind his sustainability as US leader might be a Pakistani-origin man.