How about the argument that bits are different than physical property and can't be stolen?
Now, the government believes the same thing and suddenly, when it involves you personally, it's wrong.
The hypocrisy in the tech community doesn't surprise me. I've been witnessing it for years.
I have a manuscript for a new book which I keep in a safe at home. I may believe that once a book is "out in the wild", anyone should be allowed to copy it. However, that does not mean I think it is OK for the government to have the right to open up my security box at a bank and read the manuscript if I choose to use "cloud safes" (AKA banks) instead of my own personal safe at home. The problem here is not really the reading of the book, but interfering with my agreement with the bank that only I should be allowed into the safe, regardless of what may or may not be in there.
Now, about being 'stolen'. The argument about bits being free is that you can copy them anywhere. I think you can see how deleting from someone else's server is not the same thing.
The government is not causing problems by copying the drives, they are causing problems by confiscating them.
In this particular case there is no hypocrisy.
Personally, I don't believe the government is stealing anything. They're violating people's privacy, which is a different thing and does not require the data to be property.