Orrin Hatch: “I wanted to briefly mention my opposition to amendment No. 3913 offered by the Senator from Wisconsin. This amendment…”

“I wanted to briefly mention my opposition to amendment No. 3913 offered by the Senator from Wisconsin. This amendment relates to reverse targeting, which is a theory that the Government could target a foreign person abroad when the real intention is to target a U.S. person, thus circumventing the need to get a warrant for the U.S. person. Quite simply, reverse targeting is already considered illegal under FISA. Going even further, the Intelligence Committee bill has a very explicit prohibition against reverse targeting. The amendment offered by the Senator from Wisconsin adds subjective language which completely alters the meaning of the original bipartisan provision. I asked Attorney General Mukasey this during a hearing on Wednesday, and here is our exchange. HATCH: Now the topic of reverse targeting has been mentioned often during the FISA reform debate. From an intelligence perspective, reverse targeting makes no sense. From an efficiency standpoint, if the government was interested in targeting an American, it would apply for a warrant to listen to all of that person's conversations, wouldn't it? Not just his conversations with terrorists overseas? MUKASEY: Correct. HATCH: Now, I asked General Wainstein about this during the Judiciary Committee hearing last October, and he reiterated the government's view that FISA itself makes reverse targeting illegal. Does the DOJ still consider reverse targeting illegal under FISA? MUKASEY: Absolutely.”