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Home Front: Politix
IRS Experts: Lois Lerner hard drive was just 'scratched' - Not Damaged Beyond Recovery
2014-07-24
Top IRS officials told congressional investigators that Lois Lerner's hard drive --
the one containing emails that could shed light on the IRS targeting scandal --
was irreparably damaged before it was destroyed completely in 2011. But now, investigators have had a chance to talk to the technical experts inside the IRS who actually examined Lerner's computer, and the experts say the hard drive in question was actually just scratched, and that most of the data on it was recoverable.

The IRS computer experts also told the committee that they had recommended seeking outside help in recovering the data from Lerner's computer - something IRS management declined to do.

The revelation has increased the sense among Republicans on Capitol Hill that they're being jerked around by the IRS. It is unbelievable that we cannot get a simple, straight answer from the IRS about this hard drive, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp said in a statement Tuesday. The committee was told no data was recoverable and the physical drive was recycled and potentially shredded. To now learn that the hard drive was only scratched, yet the IRS refused to utilize outside experts to recover the data, raises more questions about potential criminal wrong doing at the IRS.

In addition, the committee says it has come across evidence that, at least for some period of time, Lerner's computer was listed as recovered in an internal IRS IT tracking document. The committee says IRS experts were not able to say whether recovered meant that the hard drive had actually been saved or whether it had met some other fate. In any event, committee aides say they have consulted with former federal law enforcement and Department of Defense forensic experts about the matter, and their conclusion is that the majority of information on the drive could have been saved.

If anything, the new information has strengthened GOP's resolve to keep investigating the IRS matter. It is these constant delays and late revelations that have forced this investigation to go on so long, Camp said. If the IRS would just come clean and tell Congress and the American people what really happened, we could put an end to this. Our investigators will not stop until we find the full truth.

Posted by:junkiron

#8  Hey, Congress, you'd better not slack up:
Please help the tax man set a rack up
And donate some hardware
And audit her software
And burn Lois Lerner's big back-up!
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220   2014-07-24 13:19  

#7  Conventionally, "recovered" means her drive was replaced with a new one with cloned copies of Windows and the standard set of applications she used, and then her User Data directory was restored from central backup. This would limit the loss to a day or a week.

Her emails were stored on the central server.

The problem is, her inbox was limited (on the server) to 250 MB, a tiny amount these days. I would expect she had processed over 5GB of email in the last few years.

If she was just erasing old email (on the server), then it's gone, because the IRS was not keeping backups older than six months, so after it had been erased for six months, the backup would be overwritten. This would not comply with records retention policy, but I suppose she could easily survive the slaps with the wet noodle.

If she was moving copies of old email to her local hard drive (which is not that easy to do in an IMAP setup), then the question is why were these not restored when her computer was recovered. Is there no central backup of User Data at the IRS? Or were the emails in question manually erased from her User Data, either before or after the HD crash, and the failed drive is just a red herring?

Beyond all that, there is the requirement to preserve email, which can be, and is, complied with by printing out email or storing it on some permanent medium, like a DVD.
Posted by: KBK   2014-07-24 12:34  

#6  So,If they don't HAVE the hard drive, how do they know.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2014-07-24 11:12  

#5  First rule of government service :"It's never too early to start covering your a$$." It's why they love paperwork; it's like a big blanket to hide under.
Posted by: ed in texas   2014-07-24 07:58  

#4  :-)
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2014-07-24 05:36  

#3  Sy is nie 'n 'Pollyanna' nie, sy is waar stom.
[not a Pollyanna, just quite dull]
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-07-24 05:33  

#2  How do you say Pollyanna in Afrikaans?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2014-07-24 05:04  

#1  This train is going to stop at the Oval Office. It's just a matter of time. I have a sense none of these IRS people have any desire to go to jail in order to protect the Champ.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-07-24 05:03