Among the trove of thousands of Clinton campaign emails published by WikiLeaks is discussion of the encryption debate. In February 2016, at the height of Apple‘s face-0ff with the FBI, which wanted to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s office emailed campaign chair John Podesta: “I hope that our candidate does not leap on the side of the FBI on the encryption ruling. If she is leaning that way, can I talk with her?” Podesta responded that he’d talk to Clinton though it’s not clear if a conversation ever took place.
Several months earlier, Clinton seemed to side with Apple.When asked during a primary debate in December 2015 about the issue, she suggested that instead of breaking encryption, the U.S. should launch a “Manhattan-like project” to “bring the government and tech communities together” so that law enforcement can “prevent attacks.” She continued: “Maybe the back door isn’t the right door, and I understand what Apple and others are saying about that. I just think there’s got to be a way, and I would hope that our tech companies would work with government to figure that out.”