Who knows what she would have done if she weren't stonewalled.
Your explanation is no "simpler", you're just completely disregarding the facts. People didn't just play along, she got a lot of pushback, especially for someone in such a senior position.
In 2011, she was offered a FOIAble BlackBerry. Her team said it didn't make sense. The simple explanation is that she didn't want a FOIAble BB.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/295909737/Stephen-Mull-Emails-to-...