I tend to agree on your theory...Awan had some front-door opened for him, and got friendly with various people. It wouldn’t surprise me someone put a $100k down as a donation to a campaign fund...to get the front-door opened.
No, it wouldn't, but I'd bet that someone wasn't Awan himself. Too young to make or have the connection. I think he was planted with the understanding that he'd leak info back to his sponsor when he could.
What they didn't count on was that he was such and enterprising and criminal A-hole, bringing in his family, running side-businesses as a sleazy landlord and used car salesman, while also stealing equipment from Congress.
If he'd had a little self-discipline, he could have remained a foreign intelligence asset for another ten or twenty years.