Regarding RR and the wire tapping comment:  I don't have the answers, but I was suspicious of that whole thing from the beginning.  If I remember correctly, RR's comrades turned on him by leaking that comment to the NYT.  I don't remember if we figured out who did it, but it was obvious to me at the time that they were throwing RR under the bus.  It made me think at the time that RR was a white (or gray) hat.  So what would RR's motive be for making the wire comment in the first place?  Was he trying to set them up to react?  If so, what was to be gained? I can't quite wrap my head around it, but I don't think he just unthinkingly made the comment around a group that might stab him in the back.