Almost feels like it was halfway tongue in cheek. Like, it wasn't the threat of legal action they expected to hold compliance, it was "you're part of something SECRET now! You got a secret contract too!"
Oh don't worry, they aren't going to be merely *fined*. In the eyes of the law, destroyed evidence is assumed to be horrendously incriminating, and the judge will both carry that forward AND instruct the jury to assume that in deliberations.