emptywheel

Pre-Texas, a DOJ source told me there was "interest" inside the department in taking encryption back to court if the case is right. Rosenstein told me that he wants prosecutors to know that, if they think they need to sue, "they should not be reluctant to pursue it."

Why is this important right now? Because the Russia story has given Silicon Valley a bad image. DOJ might win a PR battle if a new encryption fight arose. Civil liberties folks told me they were concerned about this.

The Apple/FBI fight over the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone ended almost a year and eight months ago. The issue has been mostly dormant since then in the U.S. Now that the FBI is having trouble accessing the Texas shooter's iPhone, a new court battle could be close at hand.

President Trump, of course, urged his fans to boycott Apple during the campaign because of the San Bernardino case. And he's generally gone out of his way to appeal to law enforcement, which desperately wants a solution here.

Back to Rosenstein. There's a bit of irony in him becoming the government's new encryption champion. The last person in that role was former FBI Director James Comey. You may remember Rosenstein wrote a little memo about Comey.

"Encryption is one of the issues I agree completely with Jim Comey on," Rosenstein told me. "I think he was right about the issue."

Expect to hear more about encryption from Rosenstein. He told me that his engagement is “a conscious decision on my part … because I think it’s one of the most important law enforcement challenges we face.”