New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is being indicted on corruption charges, says he’s forgotten the new passcode he created for his iPhone, which he assures that he only did to assist investigators, reports AppleInsider.
Adams, who was indicted in September, saw two of his phones go into the hands of investigators, although he apparently got to keep his personal iPhone. So, since he’s forgotten the passcode, his iPhone is useless, right? Right?
“When Adams produced his personal cellphone the next day in response to a subpoena,” says the filing, “it was ‘locked,’ such that the device required a password to open.”
Adams said that he changed the iPhone passcode in the spirit of cooperation with investigators, as he wanted to “prevent members of his staff inadvertently or intentionally deleting the contents of his phone.” Adams new passcode was a bit tougher to remember than his old one, as he increased his four-digit passcode to six digits.
Adams says he “wished to preserve the contents of his phone due to the investigation.” But, he “had forgotten the password [sic] he had just set.”
But wait! There’s more! A woman identified only as an “Adams Staffer,” had agreed to speak to FBI investigators, but first she needed to take a restroom break. While in ladies room, the staffer “deleted the encrypted messaging applications she had used to communicate with Adams.”
Since the contents of third-party messaging apps are not stored in iCloud, investigators are SOL when it comes to recovering those conversations. Beside, Apple never agrees to help law enforcement open locked iPhones or provide backdoors to slip into users’ DMs. Plus, all data stored on iCloud is encrypted, and even Apple cant read it.
While there is no mention of which model iPhone Adams or his sidekick were using or which version of iOS is installed on said devices. While the cops have bene able to unlock iPhones without any assistance from Apple, that ability is limited to iPhones running iOS 17.3 or older.
Adams faces federal charges of bribery, wire fraud, and soliciting and receiving illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals for political favors, specifically from the country of Turkey. Adams says he’s innocent and denies the charges, and his next court appearance will be on Wednesday, October 2, 2024. Maybe he’ll remember his passcode by then? Stay tuned.
