“Liz Purchia said the agency maintains that the text messages neither had to be preserved nor were subject to disclosure. Text messages can legally be deleted, she said”.
Uhmmmm, no they can’t.
Liz Purchia is just trying to split hairs.
There is no difference between text messages and email. Both are forms of communication between gov’t employees conducting official business.
She might as well claim that only typewritten letters were subject to disclosure, but that handwritten notes were not.