The director of the FBI just admitted that 'a mistake was made' with the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone
Comey and the FBI are seeking to force Apple to build custom software to access encrypted data on a terrorist's iPhone.
New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler asked Comey about whether the San Bernardino iPhone had its iCloud password changed, preventing the device from backing up to accessible Apple servers. Comey was forced to admit that the password was changed at the FBI's request, and called it a "mistake."
It wasn't the only difficult question that Comey fielded on Monday.
Democrat John Conyers also asked a very pointed question: "Given that Congress has explicitly denied you that authority so far, can you appreciate our frustration that this case appears to be little more than an end-run around committee?"
The question revealed Conyers' deep skepticism for the FBI's court order to Apple, and implies Conyers believes that Comey is only going through the courts because legislators have declined to write laws requiring technology companies to provide backdoors.
"First of all I don't recall a time where I've asked for a particular legislative fix. In fact, the administration's position has been they're not seeking legislation at this time," Comey replied.
Apple has insisted that the issue over one of the San Bernardino shooter's locked iPhone is one that would be best handled by Congress. Conyers, the longest-serving member of Congress, and other members of the House Judiciary Committee, appear to agree with Apple.
In fact, Representatives from of both parties seemed generally skeptical of Comey's testimony on Tuesday.
- Ohio Republican Steve Chabot cornered Comey into admitting that smaller businesses than Apple might be severely burdened by similar requests.
- California Republican Darell Issa focused on berating Comey about whether the FBI even understood on a technical level what it was asking Apple to do.
- California Democrat Zoe Lofgren corrected a Comey assertion that Apple's iCloud had not been hacked.
- Texas Republican Ted Poe said that "Congress should decide this, not the judiciary system," and pressed Comey to answer. (He said there's a "huge role for Congress to play.")
- Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz wondered why the government can force a private company to do its bidding, and pressed further whether the FBI "screwed things up" by changing the phone's iCloud password. Comey disagreed with that characterization.
- Chaffetz also talked about surveillance in general, bringing up Stingray spying tools.
- Democrat Judy Chu from California asked whether foreign governments can use technical backdoors as well, and cited a researcher who says the government has several different resources to unlock phones. (Comey said that the FBI has looked into those tools, but don't have a way to break an iPhone running iOS 9.)
One congressman who was skeptical of Apple's position was South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, who compared Apple's responsibility to surgeons, who can preserve evidence while removing bullets from a body. He said that Apple "has already weighed the balance" and decided the government shouldn't be able to get into a terrorist's phone.
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Apple's top lawyer, Bruce Sewell, will testify on a panel later on Tuesday, joined by Cyrus Vance, district attorney for Manhattan, and Susan Landau, a former Google privacy analyst and current professor.
You can watch the entire hearing here: