eeeeesh...

I never thought these would see the light of day, and they are just exactly what I thought they'd be.

I've worked for the government. (NASA) I've been a part of hundreds of these types of email chains with career government employees, who know how these arcane processes work, and make sure to get the other person to say very specific words that absolve the recipient of any responsibility for making a decision they know is bad and stupid, and will come back to bite someone eventually.

But if they can show the email chain where they push back and get the OTHER person to say the magic words of absolution, they go along with it... and then print the emails, and put them in their desk drawer.

As an IT nerd at NASA, I was brought in to people's offices when they were fired and escorted out of the building without getting a chance to clear out their desk, turn off their computer, etc.

Manager brings me in, points at the screensaver, and says, "figure out the password, and get me into that computer."

And I did. Almost every time.

I also went through drawers and files, and saw folders with dozens of pages of printed emails that highlighted some wrongdoing or some shit that was going to hit the fan at some point, and the user had printed out to save their butt if it ever came up.

Someone at DOD is PISSED at the White House (and OMB), and has brought out the big guns... the email printouts.

This ain't the last we will see of incriminating email chains. Once a government employee sees the opportunity to expose how they have been wronged, that folder is coming out of the bottom drawer, and getting sent to the WaPo. I guarantee it.