One of the first things we learned about the Internet is that anything sent via email could readily become public and anything created on a computer might be stolen/hacked and distributed.

Recent events suggest that many high-profile players had few concerns about the security of their private communications. Thirty years into the Internet, ignorance can be dismissed as a factor, and so that leaves impunity: there would be no consequences even if their private correspondence became public.

There is power, and then there is impunity. Power has limits; those acting with impunity are confident that their power has elevated them beyond the reach of any authority or adverse consequence, and so they're free to act with complete impunity.

Which brings us to Smith's Neofeudalism Principle #1: If the citizenry cannot replace a kleptocratic authoritarian government and/or limit the power of the financial Aristocracy at the ballot box, the nation is a democracy in name only.