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Giuliani seemingly likens forgetting iPhone passcode to FBI asking Apple to crack open shooter's phone

He reportedly needed an Apple Genius to get into his phone.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
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Corinne Reichert
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Screenshot by Corinne Reichert/CNET

Rudy Giuiani has seemingly compared his experience of forgetting his own iPhone password to the FBI asking Apple for access to a mass shooter's phone. Giuiani, the newly appointed cybersecurity adviser to President Donald Trump, was reacting to a report by NBC News earlier Thursday saying he needed an Apple Genius to help get into his phone because he entered the passcode incorrectly 10 times. It also follows him butt dialing a NBC News journalist and accidentally leaving a voicemail of a private conversation last week.

"Hey @NBCNews, last I checked the FBI, last year, had to ask Apple to unlock an iPhone too!" he tweeted Thursday evening. "We're all human, just maybe not tonight..." he added, referencing Halloween with a pumpkin emoji.

He's likely referring to the 2015 San Bernardino, California, mass shooting that left 14 people dead, after which an iPhone belonging to the suspect was at the center of a legal battle between the government and Apple. The US government had wanted Apple to produce software that could unlock the phone, but Apple refused.

The Department of Justice in March 2016 said it eventually used an outside party to help break into the iPhone 5C. The FBI released a 100-page document in January 2017 detailing how it broke into the smartphone, but much of the report was redacted.

According to NBC News Thursday, the Apple Genius incident with Giuliani happened back in February 2017 in San Francisco.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.