[HarryCaul]

FOIA requests aren't instant.

If someone wanted to prevent the info in the files from seeing the light of day, stealing them forces another FOIA request, which in all probability wouldn't get filled until after November, or close enough as to make no difference.

If someone wanted to know what was in the files, this theft provides a much faster way of learning.

It also has the side-effect of tossing just a tiny bit more paranoia into the Kerry camp. Who knows who has what information now? It's out there, roaming free in the world, and noone knows what it is.

[VadeRetro]

It also has the side-effect of tossing just a tiny bit more paranoia into the Kerry camp.

Maybe.

Who knows who has what information now?

The person who has it.

[VRWC_minion]

If someone wanted to prevent the info in the files from seeing the light of day, they would have kept them or redacted them in the first place.