Whistleblower Act Unconstitutional says AG nominee, Barr, in 34 pg DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo 1989

sauce:

https://www.justice.gov/file/24271/download

"Barr said in 2001 that he still considered the law unconstitutional.

“I felt then, and feel now, that is an abomination and a violation of the appointments clause under the due powers of the president,” Barr told interviewers from the University of Virginia, who were compiling an oral history of George H.W. Bush’s presidency. Barr said in the 2001 interview he wanted the Bush Justice Department to attack the constitutionality of the FCA but was opposed by then-Solicitor General Kenneth Starr."

"A source close to Barr’s confirmation process told me Wednesday that the AG nominee will back down from that view when he goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15. “Barr has recently told others that his prior comments are outdated,” the source said. “He believes the Department of Justice’s current approach to the False Claims Act is sufficient to protect federal interests and that a constitutional challenge would not be warranted.”"

Whistleblower law firms have brought it to Grassley's attention

Whistleblower lawyers to Grassley: Make Barr commit to False Claims Act

"The big worry for whistleblower lawyers is that a Barr-led Justice Department can quietly muzzle the FCA without a splashy constitutional challenge. "

So one way for the Justice Department to slow FCA litigation, say whistleblower lawyers, would be to decline to intervene in good cases. Another would be to call for the dismissal of cases in which it has decided not to get involved. The Justice Department, said FCA defense lawyer Alex Hontos of Dorsey & Whitney, has already indicated a more aggressive stance on such cases in a 2018 memo from Civil Fraud Section Director Michael Granston. Under Barr, Hontos said, the Granston framework could be even more rigorously enforced.

"Or DOJ could quietly refuse to defend the FCA in cases in which it has declined to take over the prosecution of fraud claims."

sauce:

https://www.whistleblower.org/multimedia/reuters-whistleblower-lawyers-grassley-make-barr-commit-false-claims-act