At least one government official has handed over his electronic devices to police investigating the Section 34 e-mail issue. Gary Griffith, who is national security adviser to the Prime Minister, said yesterday he handed over his mobile phone and computer hard drive voluntarily to investigators about three weeks ago. Griffith was one of the officials allegedly involved in the e-mail exchanges last September, as outlined by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley.
Griffith said he told the police he was prepared to hand over any electronic devices to be examined by any international IT expert. He said he wanted the investigators to prove that at no time were any of the alleged e-mails ever received on or sent from his phone. “No such e-mails ever passed through or were deleted from my phone,” Griffith insisted yesterday. Deputy Commissioner of Police Mervyn Richardson was appointed to investigate the scandal last month following the release of 31 e-mails about the early proclamation of Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Bill 2011.
While presenting a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives on May 20, Rowley said the e-mails were from addresses belonging to Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, and other government officials, including Griffith. Griffith told the T&T Guardian he did not hesitate to hand over the devices and gave his mobile phone and the computer hard drive to the investigators without even being asked. Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said earlier this week she would hand over her devices but must be present when investigators look through it as she is chairman of the National Security Council and they contain sensitive material.