( December 15, 2023, 12:58 PM EST) -- HONOLULU — A federal magistrate judge in Hawaii on Dec. 14 denied a motion by residents seeking sanctions against the U.S. government related to allegations that it destroyed text message electronic evidence of two senior military leaders involved in the response to a drinking water contamination lawsuit, ruling that “given the dearth of evidence that relevant texts ever existed, the Court is hard pressed to find that the steps the Government took to preserve relevant [electronically stored information (ESI)] were not reasonable.”...