The federal government has significantly expanded undercover operations
in recent years, with officers from at least 40 agencies posing as
business people, welfare recipients, political protesters and even
doctors or ministers to ferret out wrongdoing, records and interviews
show.
At
the Supreme Court, small teams of undercover officers dress as students
at large demonstrations outside the courthouse and join the protests to
look for suspicious activity, according to officials familiar with the
practice.
At
the Internal Revenue Service, dozens of undercover agents chase
suspected tax evaders worldwide, by posing as tax preparers, accountants
drug dealers or yacht buyers and more, court records show.
At
the Agriculture Department, more than 100 undercover agents pose as
food stamp recipients at thousands of neighborhood stores to spot
suspicious vendors and fraud, officials said.
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