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Ex-congressional staffer cleared as judge slams conspiracy theories

WASHINGTON – A former congressional technology staffer who became the target of a litany of political conspiracy theories was sentenced to time served Tuesday for lying on a loan application as a U.S. judge in Washington condemned his ongoing harassment by the “highest” levels of government over unfounded conspiracies.

In releasing Imran Awan, 38, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan read aloud passages of court filings in which federal prosecutors debunked allegations promulgated on right-leaning news sites and fanned by President Donald Trumpon Twitter suggesting Awan was a Pakistani operative who secretly compromised computer files with cover from House Democrats, and noted that the Virginia man’s July 3 guilty plea to a felony over a home-equity loan was unrelated to his work on Capitol Hill.