Apple Asks Judge to Vacate Order on Locked Phone, Says FBI Is Seeking 'Dangerous Power

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- Apple Inc. on Thursday asked a federal magistrate to reverse her order that the company help the FBI hack into a locked iPhone, accusing the federal government of seeking "dangerous power" through the courts.

The filing represents Apple's first official response since the judge's order last week and builds upon arguments voiced by the company's chief executive and supporters.

Apple files motion to vacate order in terrorist's iPhone case in San Bernardino: pic.twitter.com/qfO8PI1RDB

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) February 25, 2016

"No court has ever authorized what the government now seeks, no law supports such unlimited and sweeping use of the judicial process, and the Constitution forbids it," Apple said in the filing.

The Justice Department is proposing a "boundless interpretation" of the law that, if left unchecked, could bring disastrous repercussions for digital privacy, the company warned in a memo submitted to Magistrate Sheri Pym.

"The government says: 'Just this once' and 'Just this phone.' But the government knows those statements are not true," lawyers for Apple wrote.

The filing was made the same day that FBI Director James Comey defended the government's approach during separate appearances on Capitol Hill.

The dispute broke into public view last Tuesday when Pym directed Apple to help the FBI gain access to a phone used by one of the assailants in the San Bernardino, California, attacks.

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