The agency blamed the miscount on “programming errors.”
Leah Millis/Reuters
The FBI has reportedly been exaggerating the severity of the problems agents were having with encrypted devices. The agency has repeatedly claimed to Congress and to the public that FBI employees were unable to access 7,800 cell phones connected to crimes last year. But The Washington Post reports that the real number is likely between 1,000 and 2,000. The FBI is reportedly in the process of conducting a new audit, and in an official statement the agency blamed the inflated numbers on “programming errors.”
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