I may have phrased it badly, but my point wasn't that they would/could not target individuals, but more that they don't really care about their capacity as developers; more that these people are simply government implants in the target org, and that whether they are unable to provide the capability through ordinary channels is simply irrelevant.

If the Govt strongarms a developer into implanting a backdoor, they won't care that they can't do it without breaking company policy or QA or workflow or even the law, because they cease to be primarily an employee, and become an asset of ASIO.