Honestly wondering if this was done deliberately by DOJ tech folks who weren’t on board with the cover-up.

I have heard of a gov employee keeping a usb cable in a locked cabinet because they thought it had leftover data after use.

(I’m guessing they misinterpreted a zero effort PowerPoint presentation)

Not do far fetched, tbh. I always burn the pencil after writing down my password - if someone got a hold of it they could easily figure out what was last written. My typewriter was hacked numerous times this way!
Prior Incantato!