They can certainly make life difficult for Apple and its executives; see what happened to Phil Nacchio of Qwest when he pushed back against surveillance requests.
He's also changed his tune some over time. Now it's all about users rights and privacy, but way back when the big concern was that the FCC might drop a giant fine on them. Less about protecting customers, more about protecting the bottom line by not getting caught.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_25845407/unrepentant-j...