By "they", I meant the SEC.
The SEC wouldn't be interested in seeing account holdings of just a few shareholders. They need to see everything. As I said, if they want to, they can get a NOBO and the OBO number. They probably subpoenaed the TA ledgers around the time of the suspension.
In other words, if the sec had seen what appeared to be at that time at significant short position, would they still tell the shareholders to get a lawyer?
Yes. They'd at the very least need to be dealing with a single person--an attorney--familiar with securities law. But since they told the company to hire its own expert if it wanted to take the matter further, I believe they've satisfied themselves that there's no NSS problem.
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