My personal guess about why federal law enforcement is obsessed with this issue (if it's not just as irrational as it seems at first glance): secure communicati

My personal guess about why federal law enforcement is obsessed with this issue (if it's not just as irrational as it seems at first glance): secure communications and devices are really an obstacle in prosecuting crimes like insider trading or trade secret theft. Prosecuting crimes that leave plenty of physical evidence behind (like bombings or mass shootings) isn't really hindered if you can't read an attacker's phone. But the difference between "lucky timing" and "insider trading" might hinge entirely on the contents of communications. The public and most legislators aren't going to be scared enough of financial crimes to support backdoors, so LEOs tell nonsensical scary stories about how they need backdoors to stop kidnappers and terrorists.