Mikey Campbell
Apple's lead attorney Bruce Sewell on Thursday delivered some harsh words regarding a DOJ court filing in response to the company's refusal to cooperate in an FBI investigation, saying the government letter "reads like an indictment."
Sewell participated in a conference call with reporters just hours after federal prosecutors filed a formal response in the ongoing San Bernardino encryption case, which read like a point-by-point dismantling of Apple's claims. According to Business Insider, Sewell was not pleased.
"In 30 years of practice I don't think I've seen a legal brief that was more intended to smear the other side with false accusations and innuendo, and less intended to focus on the real merits of the case," Sewell said.
He went on to say that the DOJ brief "reads like an indictment" of Apple and its encryption policies. In today's letter, prosecutors suggested Apple built unbreakable security safeguards into iOS 8 and iOS 9 in part to defy government warrants and proper law enforcement requests for data access.
"This should be deeply offensive to everyone that reads it. An unsupported, unsubstantiated effort to vilify Apple rather than confront the issues in the case," Sewell added.
Apple's general counsel also took issue with allusions to a purported working data access relationship with the Chinese government. He called those allegations untrue and baseless.
"We add security features to protect our customers from hackers and criminals. And the FBI should be supporting us in this because it keeps everyone safe. To suggest otherwise is demeaning. It cheapens the debate and it tries to mask the real and serious issues. I can only conclude that the DoJ is so desperate at this point that it has thrown all decorum to the winds," he said.
Apple sparked a contentious debate over personal data privacy and national security last month when it refused to comply with a court order compelling its assistance in the FBI's investigation into last year's San Bernardino shootings. An iPhone 5c used by terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook was seized as part of the operation, but agents are unable to thwart its iOS 9 passcode lock. The government sought, and won, a federal court order forcing Apple's help in unlocking the device, but the company has declined, saying that doing so would put millions of other iPhones at risk.
Sewell ended the call with a plea to what appears to be DOJ lawyers, asking the opposing legal team to refrain from escalating tensions further.
"We know there are great people in the DOJ and the FBI. We work shoulder to shoulder with them all the time. That's why this cheap shot brief surprises us so much," Sewell said. "We help when we're asked to. We're honest about what we can and cannot do. Let's at least treat one another with respect and get this case before the American people in a responsible way. We are going before court to exercise our legal rights. Everyone should beware because it seems like disagreeing with the Department of Justice means you must be evil and anti-American. Nothing could be further from the truth."
AppleInsider Staff
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
45 Comments
"Apple and its amici try to alarm this Court with issues of network security, encryption, back doors, and privacy, invoking larger debates before Congress and in the news media. That is a diversion. Apple desperately wants—desperately needs—this case not to be 'about one isolated iPhone,'"
BigBrothersayWHAT?
FACT 1. The US Government, FBI, CIA and other agencies FAILED to stop THESE Terrorists inside America kill innocent people.
FACT 2. Apple, Inc. did nothing wrong in relation to this event - except unknowingly sell a phone to people with troubled minds.
FACT 3. Alphabet agencies are INCAPABLE of admitting when they make mistakes, thus rendering themselves UNTRUSTWORTHY.
This case is about INCOMPETENCE on the Federal Level of multiple agencies for failing to capture these Terrorists. Why can't our Senators and Congress-people questions the FBI why they failed the American people?
And wasn't the DOJ and LEOs all bitching 2 years ago about the LACK of security was causing iPhone to be the #1 theft item in the cities?
The police state:
1. NSA, CIA, FBI: use national security as an excuse to collect all phone metadata, email metadata, email content, geopositional data. Store forever.
2. Feel free to search collected info about anyone, anytime. There is no need for a search warrang. The Constitution is outdated. Provide information to local police if necessary to incriminate.
3. If a terrorist attack takes place on the homeland, use "terrorism" as pretext to reinforce the need to expand data collection, surveillance, undermine encryption. Reinforce step 1.
The US Government hired a terrorist, let a terrorist sneak right under their noses allowing that terrorist to work for it for x amount of time, and somehow this all happened because Apple can't unlock an iPhone? Apple is becoming their go to scapegoat complete and utter incompetence on their part. I've never been so embarrassed of my government in my life.