Audit: Ex-sheriff’s hard drive destroyed with hammer

By Watchdog.org William Patrick | Florida Watchdog —— Bio and Archives July 9, 2014

Comments | Print This | Subscribe | Email Us

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — The way it’s going, government hard drives might be the next protected class under federal law.

U.S. Internal Revenue Service hard drives containing two years of emails from and to Lois Lerner, the senior tax official at the heart of the alleged political targeting of conservative nonprofits, have been “recycled” and the contents destroyed. So have six of her colleagues’ hard drives. A U.S. House oversight committee is investigating. Hard drive shenanigans aren’t just a federal issue. A Broward County Sheriff’s Office internal affairs audit has revealed information contained on outgoing Sheriff Al Lamberti’s hard drive was lost after his subordinates destroyed it with a hammer. The audit was first reported by the Sun-Sentinel newspaper. No motive was given in the report, but public information could well have been destroyed. Investigators can’t be sure, but complete backup copies of Lamberti’s hard drive were not located. The incident occurred sometime after Lamberti lost his re-election bid to rival Scott Israel in late 2012 and before Israel replaced him. The Broward Sheriff’s Office has 5,800 employees and a $700 million annual budget. More...