[driftdiver]

I thought there was another source which indicated they were using 3 degrees of separation.

[OneWingedShark]

The source I read had the quote as "three or four" — which is why it was such a big deal because apparently every human being on the planet has at most only 5 degrees to every other.

It is therefore entirely plausible that "everyone in the country" is within 3 or 4 degrees and that such was a very veiled admission to spying on everyone domestically.