Muscat Family Refused To Unlock Phones, But Magistrate Managed With Help Of US Homeland Security
Special Agents from the United States Department of Homeland Security were roped in to help access the phones of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his family after they refused to pass on the passwords to their respective devices following a police search of their residence.
We’re only just scratching the surface of everything the findings of the inquiry which was made public this morning, however some titbits already stand out, including the fact that contrary to his public claims, Muscat appears to have been less than willing to cooperate with investigators.
In preliminary remarks they make before delving into the findings’ details, they note that Joseph Muscat, his wife Michelle as well as their two daughters all refused to provide investigators with access to their devices. The Muscats’ live-in domestic helper had no such issues with allowing the police to access her phone.
In view of the Muscat’s refusal to cooperate, the inquiry turned to the US Homeland Security Department. The report states that “after [the court expert] informed the magistrate that the Muscat’s did not want to provide the unlocking codes to their digital devices, [the court expert] suggested that the devices be sent to the department of Homeland Security Investigation C3, in Washington DC.
“After the magistrate accepted the request, the [court expert] met with Special Agent Gary Tirabassi at the Westin Dragonara in St Julians were he handed over the respective devices”.
We’ll bring you more as we continue to unpack all of the information.