The News
An independent panel convened after the attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump in July issued a scathing assessment of the Secret Service Thursday, saying the agency has “deep flaws” that need to be addressed through an overhaul.
The report, commissioned by the US Department of Homeland Security, called for the Secret Service to bring in new leadership from the private sector. It also recommended that the agency only focus on its role as a protection agency for high-ranking officials, and shed its responsibility for investigating financial crimes.
While not nearly as high-profile as its protective duties, the financial fraud investigations have been core to the agency’s mission since its start, and getting rid of it would mark a major shift for the Secret Service.
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Secret Service’s anti-counterfeit mission came first
The agency was founded in 1865 to investigate rampant counterfeiting after the Civil War; its protection responsibilities were only tacked on after the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley. Today, it investigates credit card, wire, and bank fraud, including the use of “skimming” devices on ATMs that steal financial information. The Secret Service has “bristled” at previous suggestions to eliminate its dual mandate, The New York Times reported, and sees its financial crimes division as core to its responsibilities. The agency’s acting director said recently that a “fundamental transformation” is already underway that maintains its focus on financial investigations alongside protection.
Lawmakers already pushing to eliminate financial investigation division
Experts predicted that Trump’s attempted assassination would lead to scrutiny of the agency’s financial crimes duties; about a month after the incident, a Democratic lawmaker introduced a bill that would prioritize protection, and transfer the agency’s other duties to the Treasury Department. The idea has previously surfaced in a 2015 congressional report, as well as in Project 2025, the right-wing policy wish list for a second Trump administration. But another bill — proposed weeks after the shooting and with bipartisan backing in the Senate — would give the Secret Service expanded powers to investigate cybercrimes related to digital assets like cryptocurrency.