Thread by @ErrataRob

Fact check: false

The data wasn't deleted, it was backed-up (well, probably).

I did my own forensics analysis of the Mesa County servers. Retention rules would demand that data be backed-up externally. Thus, seeing data deleted locally wouldn't mean anything.

https://twitter.com/BLUEPRINT_Q/status/1439656942033678338

I can't confirm they were backed-up properly, or if the backups were deleted elsewhere. There's suggestions of connecting to both a NAS and an external drive, so I see hints they were.

I just know that "retention" would imply "external storage" from the server.

The way that Dominion "updates" work isn't "software updates" like you and I are familiar with. Instead, an "update" of this server applying a whole new system image, which wipes out whatever was on the server beforehand.

Thus, every Dominion "update" wipes out whatever logs or election data are on a system. Thus, the only way a Dominion customers has to abide by "data retention" rules is external backups, which a forensics investigation of the system can't prove happened.

For all we know, they attach a USB drive and copy a system-image right before attaching a different USB drive and writing the new, updated system-image. No matter how you interpret things, a forensics of the these images will not prove "data was deleted".