Before the government decides whether to intervene in a qui tam action, it is obligated by statute to investigate a whistleblower’s allegations. See 31 U.S.C § 3730(a). But, in the course of that investigation, may the government direct the whistleblower to gather evidence by surreptitiously recording conversations with other employees at the defendant company, even though the government knows that the company is represented by counsel? A Minnesota federal court recently answered yes.
