That's still not the same as claiming that iMessage is designed specifically for the purpose of aiding government surveillance.

Not adding E2E was a conscious design decision by Apple specifically to aid surveillance.

Virtually every other big messaging service offered (optional) E2E at that point.

I’m not sure how much clearer you want it.

“Surveillance” doesn’t have to mean that Apple allowed the FBI to jack directly into the iCloud servers.

Wasn't it an attempt to take the fangs out of the FBI's push for encryption backdoors? As one of the largest messaging platforms in the US, what Apple does with E2E absolutely factors into public policymaking.