Apple's Star Chamber

An abusive judge and her prosecutor friend besiege the tech maker.

Impossible as it sounds, Judge Denise Cote has found a way to make the Justice Department's antitrust assault on Apple even more abusive. Because it presumed to enter the e-books market, the court is forcing the company to pay for a special prosecutor to investigate itself—and shredding the separation of constitutional powers too.

In July, Judge Cote of the New York federal district court convicted the iPad of being a conspiracy to increase digital book prices, though the tablet's 2010 introduction increased competition and consumer choice and, er, lowered digital book prices. She then appointed her friend Michael Bromwich as an external monitor to review antitrust at Apple, which he has interpreted as carte blanche to act as the inquisitor of all things Cupertino.

That may be what Judge Cote wants. Before her bench trial began she pre-declared her "tentative view" that Apple was an antitrust violator and indulged Justice Department arguments that have no precedent in antitrust jurisprudence. She essentially ruled before hearing the evidence.

Judge Cote's injunction gave Apple until January 14, 2014 to overhaul its antitrust compliance and training procedures, a process that is underway. But in late October Mr. Bromwich began an open-ended, roving investigation of Apple. He demanded immediate interviews starting in November with every top Apple executive and board member, including CEO Tim Cook, lead designer Jony Ive and Al Gore. Does he want to disinter Steve Jobs too?