The FBI has also been unable to unlock the iPhone of the Mayor of New York.

Saturday, Oct. 05, 21:00h
By TN Agency

One day after changing his phone password, the Mayor of New York City told the FBI that he had forgotten the new password. A year later, the FBI still hasn't been able to unlock the phone.

In November 2023, New York Mayor Eric Adams was stopped by FBI agents on the street after attending a public event. Initially, he insisted that he "had nothing to hide" and committed to cooperating.

However, the case became complicated as Adams submitted two phones to the FBI. But neither of them was the device he used to "communicate about the violations in the indictment," according to prosecutors.

The next day, Adams brought his personal phone to the FBI at their request, but the device was locked. The mayor stated that he could not remember the password, even though it had been set just a day before. Until now, nearly a year later, the FBI still hasn't been able to unlock this phone.

Changing Password Just Before the Arrest

According to court documents, Adams stated that he changed his password right after learning about the investigation. Fearing that data on the phone might be deleted by members of his team, he changed the password from four digits to six digits to "secure important information." However, the next day, he could not remember this password.

This has led many to question the honesty of Adams's testimony. Prosecutor Hagan Scotten described this as a "volatile move" by Adams, potentially having serious implications for the case.

In a hearing at the federal court in Manhattan, Scotten emphasized, "Decoding will always catch up with encryption, but we won’t know anything until we can access the device."

However, experts assess that decrypting Adams's phone is not easy. According to the New York Post, there have been instances where the FBI has unlocked similar devices using technology from the Israeli company Cellebrite, but Adams's personal phone, with its strong encryption, remains a "significant challenge."

Adams claims that forgetting the password was merely an accident. But with the allegations surrounding his involvement in corruption related to bribery from foreign sources, this has raised public skepticism.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Besides Adams "forgetting" his password, the 57-page indictment presents a plethora of evidence showing that his associates deliberately concealed criminal activities.

In one interview with the FBI, an employee of Adams requested to step outside to use the restroom. There, she deleted encrypted messaging apps she had used to communicate with Adams and other partners.

Among them were a Turkish official and an aviation manager. Adams himself had previously instructed another employee to "delete all messages sent to me," with a brief note: "Always remember to do that."

The FBI's Challenges

According to the indictment, those around Adams organized fundraising events that were purportedly legal. But in reality, they were a means to receive illegal foreign donations from Turkey.

One event organizer even created a fake PowerPoint presentation to cover up the true nature of the event as a fundraiser for Adams's 2025 campaign. Another important detail is that during key meetings regarding issues related to Turkey, Adams and his associates left their phones outside the meeting room to avoid recording the conversation.

Adams's inability to provide the password for his phone has raised many suspicions. Is this truly an accident, or a way to obstruct the FBI's investigation? In previous cases, there has been considerable debate about whether defendants have the right to refuse to provide phone passwords.

Some courts have ruled that the right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits investigators from forcing suspects to disclose their phone passwords.

Phone passwords are often considered a form of "testimonial evidence" because they require a person to reveal their thoughts. However, if Face ID or Touch ID is enabled on Adams's device, the FBI could unlock his phone using biometric data, which is generally not regarded as a form of testimonial evidence.

This is not the first time the FBI has had to deal with a locked iPhone. They just need the right tools. After investigators in Pittsburgh were unable to access the phone of a shooter at a Trump rally, they sent the device to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.

Agents unlocked it in under an hour, using an unreleased tool from the Israeli company Cellebrite to gain access to the shooter's phone.

However, experts told the New York Post that breaking into Adams's phone would be "extremely difficult" for the FBI.