Since the Josh Duggar child pornography scandal dropped we’ve heard all about the disturbing videos that were found on his computer at the Wholesale Motors in Arkansas where he worked. We learned about how agents were able to detect the downloads and trace the IP address to the specific computer — and what was found on it once it was confiscated.
And yet, the 19 Kids and Counting alum pleaded not guilty. How does that work? As the trial started this week, we’ve seen the defense’s strategy for getting out from under all that evidence: convincing the jury that some mysterious other person could have downloaded all that kiddie porn — or maybe even hacked into the computer and put it there. It doesn’t matter if the government tech people testify that didn’t happen, if Duggar’s legal team can put a reasonable doubt into the jury’s minds, that’s all they need, right?
Related: Jim Bob Duggar LIED For Josh, Says Judge
Well, it looks like that’s going to be a bit tougher after some very damning testimony on Thursday — stuff even non-tech-savvy folks will understand, too!
James Fottrell, director of the DOJ’s High Technology Investigative Unit, returned to the stand Thursday afternoon after previously telling the jury about the most awful things that were found on the computer and how they were acquired from the Dark Web.
He also previously walked the jury through the whole Linux thing — essentially, he had explained how a second system was set up on the same computer, like having a secret second computer on the same HP device. Only this one was using the Linux operating system instead of Windows. As such, it allowed a user to access sites and downloads without anyone else who used the computer ever being able to tell. The secret second computer also conveniently bypassed Covenant Eyes, the Christian-based “accountability” program he was using to block himself from adult sites after his whole Ashley Madison cheating scandal. That program was on the Windows half of the computer. The child porn was on the Linux half.
Related: The Story Of The ‘Most Offensive’ Thing Josh Is Accused Of Downloading
So essentially whoever was using the Linux computer setup was the one with the child porn, right? Well, here’s the thing. The password to get into that computer? The secret Linux computer within the other computer? Intel1988.
This is crucial. Not only is 1988 Josh Duggar’s birth year, he’s actually used that exact password and other versions of it elsewhere. The government seized his phone and home MacBook in addition to the work computer, and in their investigation of those devices they found he had been using some version of “intel1988” (sometimes “inteljjd” — still intel but with his initials instead of birth year) as his password for various programs as early as 2014. Intel1988 was also for some time the password for — drumroll — the Duggar Family Instagram account.
Yep, @DuggarFam, the feed dedicated to showing what a consummate family man and good Christian Jim Bob Duggar is. Sorry, we mean Arkansas State Senate candidate Jim Bob Duggar.
Fottrell also pointed out how Josh’s phone placed him at the office when the Linux partition was installed — meaning if someone else came in and secretly did it without him knowing, they would have had to get in there like a ninja AND use his own password to set it up for some reason.
In his cross-examination, Duggar defense attorney Justin Gelfand emphasized, per People, that Fottrell worked for the government. We can only guess that’s meant to appeal to the type of Duggar fans who think there’s a Deep State conspiracy against Christians. Sigh.
At this point, trying to convince anyone that this child porn belonged to anyone other than Josh requires some wild leaps in logic — including computer ninjas and/or massive government conspiracies. Remember, it’s called reasonable doubt for a reason.
What do YOU think about this reveal??
[Image via Anna Duggar/Duggar Family/Instagram.]
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