Odds are, they are using EMC storage arrays which get backed up to big StorageTek tape libraries nightly. Then they are mandated to store extra copies of the tapes offsite. Nothing was lost. Its still there. Probably on an LTO5 tape in Kearneysville, WV or at Iron Mountain in PA.
Someone should demand an ACA audit of their disaster recovery procedures. And while we’re at it, copies of their tape logs. And chain of custody records for the tapes. It wouldn’t take long to pull up the tape catalog, retrieve the tapes and restore them for everyone to see. A day maybe.
Or we could just ask the NSA. Lol! They save years worth of emails!
The emails are not lost. They are being withheld. Every time we acknowledge the premise that they are lost, we allow the perpetrators to define a false narrative which allows them to continue withholding the emails.