> A method that is "90% ready" just isn't ready. Not only are such numbers meaningless in such a project. It just doesn't matter, legally, if you gain such capabilities in the future. A good faith interpretation of the FBI's motivation must also accept that if(!) the FBI had any interest in the phone's content, that interest was urgent.

Any method they would have gotten from Apple was roughly zero percent ready, meaning the 90% one was more feasible than going through Apple.