On April 9th, 2013, Lerner exchanged emails with the IRS’ Director for Exempt Organizations Exam Unit Manager Nanette Downing who was in charge of audits and Maria Brooke, an IRS technology employee.
In the email, Lerner asks:
“I had a question today about OCS [Microsoft Office Communications Server]. I was cautioning folks about email and how we have several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails — so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails.: Someone asked if OCS conversations were also searchable — I don’t know, but told them I would get back to them.: Do you know?”
Of course, the email leads one to wonder what, exactly, needs to be covered up and inaccessible via email.
The technology employee responded to Lerner’s inquiry, writing, “OCS messages are not set to automatically save” but noted that “parties involved in an OCS conversation can copy and save the contents of the conversation to an email or file.”
“Perfect,” Lerner responded.
“We need to be cautious what we say in emails.”
That’s essentially saying, “We are doing things we don’t want Congress to know about, so don’t let anything slip in emails.”