Enlarge / Then FBI Director James Comey participates in a news conference on child sex trafficking at FBI headquarters, June 23, 2014 in Washington, DC. (credit: Mark Wilson / Getty Images News)

The Department of Justice’s internal watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), has concluded that the FBI may have overstepped when it failed to exhaust internal options before pressing ahead in a high-profile 2016 legal clash with Apple.

The OIG issued a 17-page report on Tuesday, which describes the FBI’s actions two years ago during the so-called “FBI v. Apple” showdown. That case centered around the FBI’s attempt to unlock the iPhone 5C used by Syed Rizwan Farook, the man behind a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015.

“We believe [the Cryptologic and Electronics Analysis Unit] should have checked with [Operational Technology Division’s] trusted vendors for possible solutions before advising OTD management, FBI leadership, or the [US Attorney’s Office] that there was no other technical alternative and that compelling Apple’s assistance was necessary to search the Farook iPhone,” the report states.