AG Sessions blasts tech firms for blocking access to encrypted evidence

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is taking aim at technology firms for preventing law enforcement from accessing encrypted evidence for ongoing terror investigations, warning that such actions could have “deadly consequences.”  The issue has become a point of tension between tech companies and federal investigators in high-profile cases, such as the 2016 dispute between the FBI and Apple over data stored on an iPhone belonging to a suspect in the 2015 San Bernardino terror attack.  Sessions, who delivered remarks on national security in New York City, said that over the past year the FBI was unable to access nearly 7,500 mobile devices in connection with ongoing investigations “even though there was court orders or legal authority to do so.”  The figure echoed remarks made by FBI Director Christopher Wray in October, who said the bureau had been unable to obtain data from over 6,900 mobile devices in 11 months.  "This failure to get encrypted information in a timely manner causes law enforcement to waste even more valuable time and resources,” Sessions said Thursday. “And it could have potentially deadly consequences.”