“ My running assumption is that any changes to code is logged for time and date?”
That’s right. And without exception. Every change (called a “commit”), even if it’s just the addition of a comma, is logged with the commiter’s name, a timestamp and the exact change the commiter made. Contrary to what some are saying no rogue engineer can slip something in without the knowledge of others. For one since every member of a group or members from other groups work with the same codebase, any change ever made by anyone is visible to everyone else. Secondly before any change can be committed to the main line of the code it has to go through a review and approval process where one or more members of the team, other than the person making the change, has to review and sign off on the change. There are no secrets. Code changes in professional settings are a very tightly controlled process. Especially in major tech companies whose products are used by millions. This is not to say there can’t be anything in the code that’s biased against conservatives. It’s very possible but it will be there *by design* and management will be aware of it.
You presume it was a professional setting