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If this is an IT “expert” why are they still talking about *A* hardrive instead of servers and backup?

I'm guessing because old e-mails are archived into .PST files for local users and saved locally. Servers only keep e-mail going back so far, depending on local IT policy.

Legally, I would think they would be obligated to retain 7 years of information at least in archival form. Those e-mails exist on backup tapes - a reliable and proven mass backup medium.

If this is an IT “expert” why are they still talking about *A* hardrive instead of servers and backup?

Because it is very possible to have employees download emails from the server and remove the original. It is a terrible practice, but the IT "expert" is allowing the benefit of the doubt here.

The IRS uses Microsoft Exchange. They claim to have had a ridiculously low mailbox size quota. IIRC it was something like 500MB. As soon as Lerner gets to about 450MB she gets a warning that her mailbox is almost full and she needs to archive older items to her local hard drive. Once this is done, the original is removed from the server and stored on her local drive in an Outlook PST file. It is no longer accessible to any computer besides the local one.

I don't use mailbox size quotas on my Exchange server, but I do occasionally ask people that are at 10GB or more to clean up useless emails and archive things older than a year or two. Once they do that, the emails disappear from the server.

Because of the emphasis on public record, the IRS should have been storing monthly backups of their servers and not reusing them. Normally, I'd rotate and reuse backup tapes daily and then make a storable backup at the end of the month. This backup would be held for however many years retention period is required. This is the backup tape investigators should be trying to track down.

Even if the IRS has created and held monthly backup tapes, it's possible that Lerner has completely skipped the archive step and just has all of her emails downloaded to her local hard drive. This would be silly since she then couldn't check her email on any other device, but it is possible. If this is the case, no backup tape is going to help them find the email.

Agencies like the IRS where public record is so important should have better policies than this. But they don't.

Yes it is truly amazing. Many people have indicated that this is not about hard drives but email servers and their backups and for some reason this message isn’t driven home.

And what about all the people that she sent emails to? Does this mean that everyone she contacted at the FEC, DOJ, WH, etc etc, all have destroyed hard drives and servers?

Why even worry about her stuff anymore? Go find what you’re looking for somewhere else, like the recipients of some of her emails.