Why did H-> just not swap out the HD? H-> has got to be among the most stupid 60 yr olds.
I will not be surprised if the FBI comes back and says that’s not the hard drive. After already destroying evidence and government property and obstruction of Justice, I don’t know what stood between that disk drive and a bucket of acid.
It would be totally machiavellian to think that the drive was changed and then the server sent to 3rd party. It obfuscates and will make the issue confusing to those just following peripherally.
Another guess would be that there were multiple drives, with one being the email drive. Removed before being shipped out.