Why would she assume he’d kept them? Given that they’re about potentially embarrassing personal conduct, she might have assumed that he’d deleted them (as she probably did on her end).
I don’t know.....I would think that if it was true, and he came out with it, and he said there was “evidence”, she would have to assume that he had it, since she obviously would know of its existence. If that was the case, it doesn’t make sense for her to double-down and deny it.