WikiLeaks: Apple Exec Lobbied Clinton Campaign on Encryption During FBI’s San Bernardino Investigation

Leaked emails from John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton presidential campaign, show tech giant Apple lobbying the Clinton campaign on legal issues such as the on-going debate over electronic encryption.

Lisa Jackson, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, left her position at the EPA and joined Apple as a the Vice President of Environmental Initiatives in 2013 amid a scandal for her use of a private email account for government work. But according to recent emails released by WikiLeaks, Jackson also spent her time at Apple lobbying the Clinton campaign in relation to Apple legal battles over encryption.

The FBI’s investigation into the San Bernardino attack, which lead to the request that Apple unlock the shooter’s phone, caused much debate at the time, with Apple CEO Tim Cook writing an open letter to the FBI explaining the company’s refusal to decrypt the device.

Another email exchange in February, which would have taken place during the FBI’s investigation, mentions that their individual “teams” had been in contact.

Jackson’s emails are another example of the close ties between the Clinton campaign and Silicon Valley elites. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg expressed interest in working with Clinton, while WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has stated that Google is “directly engaged” in the Clinton campaign.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart Tech, regularly writing about issues of Free Speech and online Censorship. Follow him on Twitter@LucasNolan_ or email him at lucas@yiannopoulos.net