F.B.I. Lawyer Won’t Say if Data From Unlocked iPhone Is Useful


Eric Lichtblau for the New York Times:

On Tuesday, the F.B.I.'s top lawyer shed a bit more light on the question, a week after the Justice Department announced that it had gotten into the iPhone without Apple's help. The lawyer, James A. Baker, the bureau's general counsel, told an audience of privacy professionals in Washington that the F.B.I. had extracted data and was putting it to use.

He would not say, however, whether he considered the data -- the subject of a monthlong legal battle between Apple and the F.B.I. that ended when an undisclosed outside firm helped investigators unlock the phone -- to be "useful."

"We're still working on that, I guess is the answer," he said.

If they found something, I'd guess they would let people know. Essentially, however, the DOJ seems to be sticking to the no stone unturned talking points.