Tim Cook called out the White House's 'lack of leadership' on encryption during a closed-door meeting last month

The New York Times has a detailed account of a meeting last month between White House staff members and several key technology executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"With all due respect, I think there's been a lack of leadership in the White House on this," Cook reportedly told government officials at the meeting, which included NSA director Michael Rogers and Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security.

The two-hour meeting reportedly ended on a sour note, with Cook and Denis McDonough, President Barack Obama's chief of staff, "agreeing to disagree." The skirmish is important, as Apple's fight with the FBI moves from courthouses in California to Washington, D.C., and the halls of Capitol Hill.

Unfortunately for Apple, it sounds as if it doesn't have Obama's full support. The Times reported that Cook had met with the president "at least a half-dozen times" during his tenure but that no future meetings were scheduled.

During a televised interview last week, Cook said he hadn't spoken with Obama about the San Bernardino case, but he vowed that he would.

The FBI is seeking to compel Apple to create software that disables certain iPhone security measures so that law enforcement can extract encrypted data from a cellphone used by one of the attackers in last year's San Bernardino mass shooting.

On Tuesday, Apple's top lawyer, Bruce Sewell, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee, and he is expected to encourage Congress to pass laws that would make the FBI's request moot.

"The decisions should be made by you and your colleagues as representatives of the people, rather than through a warrant request based on a 220-year-old-statute," Sewell will say as part of his prepared remarks.

Before Sewell testifies, the committee will hear testimony from Apple's nemesis over the past three weeks, FBI director James Comey.

Sewell will be on a panel with Susan Landau, a professor at WPI and former Google policy analyst, and Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney.

Vance has been outspoken in his criticism of Apple's stance on encryption, and he has said his office has 175 Apple devices he would like Cupertino's help unlocking. In a report last year, his office even included proposed language for a law that would require Apple to include a so-called back door as part of its security measures.

More information about Apple's relationship with the White House is in The New York Times article.