FISA: Communication Breakdown

By Spencer Ackerman - August 7, 2007, 10:30 AM

Taking advantage of the difficulty many experts have in understanding Sunday's revision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Bush administration is pleading exasperation with misunderstandings of the law. Why can't people understand, asked two senior administration officials in a conference call with reporters yesterday, that the changes to FISA impact only a handful of people? Foreigners, at that! "We're really talking about targeting people, directed targeting at people overseas," assured one of them.

Ah, if only it were so.