mrmaddog

  Is anyone in charge at the Justice Department, or are
  junior prosecutors running the joint?

  Such assertions were as false in Brooklyn as in San 
  Bernardino. Two hours and a half before a deadline on Friday 
  night, the government withdrew the case after “an individual 
  provided the passcode to the iPhone,” according to legal 
  filings. This second immaculate conception in as many months 
  further undermines the FBI’s credibility about its 
  technological capabilities. Judges ought to exercise far 
  more scrutiny in future decryption cases even as Mr. Comey 
  continues to pose as helpless.

  Yet forgive us if this “conversation” now seems more like a 
  Jim Comey monologue. The debate might start to be productive 
  if the FBI Director would stop trying to use the courts as 
  an ad hoc policy tool and promised not to bring any more 
  cases like the one in Brooklyn.

  Meanwhile, the White House has taken the profile-in-courage 
  stand of refusing to endorse or oppose any encryption bill 
  that Congress may propose. If the Obama team won’t start 
  adjusting to the technological realities of strong and legal 
  encryption, they could at least exercise some adult 
  supervision at Main Justice.