As a technical problem to correlate # bytes @ time is just a very simple and you don't need a PhD to solve. Its a matter of how many measurement points on the network you have available.

Having said that. I doubt they checked and who cares where it landed? Its out.

Occam's Razor on doge (and the admin as a whole) points to opportunist amateurs, fraternizing on bravado & loyalty while willing to entertain treason by jumping through hoops for why it can't bother them.

Looking for deeper layers is a distraction. Nostalgic even.

I can empathize.