I think that just a few years ago, they would never try such an outrageous, insulting excuse. But this administration is very brazen now, they will say anything. They know that 1) The press will just let it go and 2) They can say virtually anything without being called on it by the drones on the left. I think they are just trying to find the edge of the envelope, where they will finally be called on something they say by their own supporters.
The sad thing is, they haven't found the limit yet. Obama had promised to be the most transparent administration ever, then after the election, proceeded to be one of the most secretive administrations ever. Not a peep from the left.
They must sit there and laugh as they decide what crap they are going to put out. "The computer crashed, we lost all the emails." Then someone says,"are you kidding? We can't say that!" Then they review what Obama has already said, stuff like "he just found out about it on the news". Or,"He saw it in the newspaper." "Everything will be on C-SPAN." Then they all laugh (at us) and decide to go ahead, no matter how outrageous.
Just imagine a break-in at a hotel room of the Republicans, that Obama had no knowledge of, but decided to try and cover it up. Think something like that would force him out of office? Not a chance.