Yes, and I don't believe a word of it. I do not believe that phone was ever cracked. I think they made the story up to convince apple they might as well just provide the back door they believe exists. If they paid a million dollars, which is nothing for the FBI, why is Barr publicly going after apple again? Why not have the same group unlock the phone and then have them explain how to do it? The answer is obviously because the Israeli phone crack story was total BS. They never got into that phone.
No, they really did get into that Apple iPhone 5C. However, that was an older generation version technology running an older iOS as well, and it did not have the latest security such as the Secure Enclave technology that was introduced with the iPhone 5S and later.
The Israeli Company, Cellebrite, who bought he tech from a white hat hacker, and one other, Greykey, who also figured out how to do it, both started marketing the technology to police departments around the world for about $10,000 - $35,000 per unit depending on how many unlocking licenses they bought. They would unlock IPhone 5, 5c, 4, 4s, 3G and lower. They later improved their tech to unlock up to iPhone 7. I have not heard they’ve been able to unlock anything from iPhone 8, X, Xs, Xr, or 11 running iOS 13. Apple figured out what they were doing and closed the vulnerability door.
They had every bit and byte that was ever sent to or from that phone. They've long since suborned WhatsApp and Signal.
They can't admit it.
$1,000,000.00 is a very cheap price for a fig leaf.
Especially if it comes out of the taxpayers' pockets and not your own.