Emails get archived on servers. You just have to find out which one.
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/17/irs-regulations-require-e-mails-that-are-federal-records-to-be-stored-in-separate-permanent-system/
Yup. Gone hard drive is a diversion, and a stupid one at that - email servers keep emails for years......
Why aren’t the IT experts screaming about his bogus rabbit trail?