The perpetrators in the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attack benefited from encryption, Ohio Gov. John Kasich claimed during the Republican presidential debate on Tuesday.
“The people in San Bernardino were communicating with people who the FBI had been watching, but because their phone was encrypted … it was lost,” Kasich said. “We have to solve the encryption problem.”
The statement was the strongest made by any politician to date. Authorities have said that at least one of the devices used by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik prior to the Dec. 2 attack did indeed have an application with end-to-end encryption capability, but it has not been disclosed that it was ever used. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., sent a letter to the Department of Justice on Monday requesting whether encryption played a role in the attack.
However, Kasich insisted in the debate, “We have to give the local authorities the ability to penetrate and disrupt.”
“Congress has got to deal with this, and so does the president, to keep us safe,” he added.
