How dare you accuse me of being a stumblebum of a spy? That's essentially the indignant reaction of Sturbridge, Mass. selectman Tom Creamer to fellow board member Scott Garieri's allegation that Creamer intentionally sent him a spyware-laden e-mail.

(2010's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries)

Here's the setup from a story in the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette:

On June 21, Mr. Garieri said at a selectmen's meeting his "IT guy" (which, he said, this week is the same person who hooked up his printer) picked up spyware attached to e-mails sent by Mr. Creamer. Given Mr. Creamer's "prior employment history" of making others' "personal information available," Mr. Garieri said, he felt it necessary to block all of Mr. Creamer's incoming e-mails.

The story describes Creamer as having been "a consultant" to the U.S. Department of Justice, but for purposes of this post we will leap to the entirely unsupported assumption that he was (if not still is) a full-blown government spook. Because not only does Creamer categorically deny sending any spyware, he contends that the mere fact Garieri's "IT guy" suspects him of doing so is proof he did not because -- are you following me here? -- if he had he would have left no fingerprints; he's that good.

More from the Telegram & Gazette:

"Based on (my) prior background in intelligence, believe me, if I had something attached to (the e-mail), your people would never find it, so let's not be ridiculous," Mr. Creamer responded that night. "That's such an insult to me."

Now how's that for an air-tight defense?

Both men are taking a beating in the comments section at the end of the story, mostly for not having enough sense to keep this kind of spat out of the public eye.

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