The US Department of Justice has asked the court to reconsider a recent ruling that would allow Apple to pursue records from 14 federal agencies in its antitrust case, reports 9to5Mac.
Earlier this month it was reported that Apple had won a discovery fight in their ongoing 2024 Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit, successfully blocking subpoenas they issued to 14 federal agencies—including the CIA, FBI, and NASA—that sought internal documents on how these agencies evaluate and purchase smartphones, reported The MacObserver.
The subpoenas served to federal agencies were ruled overbroad and too burdensome, particularly because many requested documents involve classified or privileged material.
Now, the DOJ, backed by declarations from officials at several federal agencies and offices, has asked Judge Linares to reconsider that decision. Notably, neither the Commerce Department nor the FTC submitted a declaration, notes 9to5Mac.
In its motion, the DOJ argues that Linares applied the wrong legal standard by treating the agencies as parties to the case rather than non-parties entitled to greater protection from discovery.
From the filing: Federal agencies are not automatically subject to “party” discovery any time the United States files a case; rather, courts must perform a fact-specific assessment of the relationship of a federal agency to each case.3 The Order did not perform the correct fact-specific assessments in concluding that none of the 14 federal agencies are entitled to the greater protection afforded to non-parties under Rule 45. That was clear error.
This recent clash is fundamentally separate from Apple’s ongoing battles over device encryption. Historically, Apple has clashed with the FBI over refusing to build “backdoors” or write custom software to unlock iPhones used by suspects in cases like the San Bernardino and Pensacola attacks.
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