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Do you know anything about the legislative and constitutional history of this? Why them and not the FBI or something? Seems very odd, but maybe just one of thos
by tibbon 14y ago
Do you know anything about the legislative and constitutional history of this? Why them and not the FBI or something? Seems very odd, but maybe just one of those weird government quirks.
- tptacek 14y agoThe short of it is, USSS was, as "the Treasury police", responsible for counterfeiting investigations, and so inherited wire fraud. In the '80s, authority over wire fraud became authority over computer crime; as you can see, even in 2012, computer crime charges are often connected to wire fraud charges.
- elemeno 14y agoThe irony is that whilst they're best known for protecting the President and other dignitaries, that they do so is the historical quirk and has nothing to do with what they were originally set up to do. From what I can tell, even today, their primary focus in terms of manpower is on fraud and counterfeiting, even if it's not their most visible side.
- azernik 14y agoTracking wire/mail fraud (interstate financial fraud, for the most part) was actually their original purpose. When a presidential protection unit was first being put together, the FBI didn't exist yet, so the Secret Service was the only police agency under Federal control, and they got the protection detail as a kind of side job. These days, they're best known as bodyguards, but they still have their original mission to deal with.