In Address to FCLC, U.S. Attorney Metcalf Debuts New White-Collar Programs, Outlines Priorities, and Promises Aggressive Enforcement

On September 3, 2025, the Federal Criminal Law Committee for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania welcomed EDPA U.S. Attorney David Metcalf, along with First Assistant Derek Hines, to speak to our membership and broader community. At the event, which was hosted at Cozen O’Connor, accompanied by a team of Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs, USA Metcalf made news by rolling out his Office’s new “White Collar Justice Program.” He and First Assistant Hines described an ambitious and invigorated office, with increased productivity and plans to bring on nearly 20 new AUSAs, and he outlined the Administration’s enforcement philosophy, particularly in the white collar space.

The White Collar Justice Program, announced for the first time at the FCLC event, is characterized by a trio of initiatives:

• The EDPA-specific “Corporate Transparency Initiative” encourages corporations to voluntarily self-disclose misconduct, in return for lenient treatment – including, in the appropriate case, no charges against the entity.
• The “Whistleblower Awards Program” is a DOJ Criminal Division pilot initiative that offers monetary rewards to individuals who tip the government to certain, specified, types of misconduct.
• Under the EDPA’s “Government Fraud Alliance,” every qui tam filing or whistleblower complaint under the False Claims Act is treated as a potential criminal matter, with a team of AUSAs from both the Criminal and the Civil Divisions investigating and sharing information.

USA Metcalf described this program as one component of an aggressive enforcement philosophy, which also involves looking to hire 15 new criminal AUSAs and three new civil AUSAs, and seeking to create an Office-wide culture focused on case origination. He outlined the Trump Administration’s white collar enforcement priorities, leaning in particularly on healthcare fraud, which has traditionally been a focus of the EDPA Office.

In a lively question-and-answer session, one of FCLC’s longstanding priorities came up: the creation of a pretrial diversion program in our District. While he made no formal commitments, USA Metcalf agreed that his Office would be open to FCLC’s input on that idea.

The Federal Criminal Law Committee has a longstanding tradition of welcoming the incoming U.S. Attorney to speak to its membership and community. That tradition is part of a culture of openness and collegiality between prosecution and defense in this District, a culture that FCLC Chair Abe Rein praised in opening remarks, and that USA Metcalf and First Assistant Hines acknowledged and concurred is part of what makes this a good place to practice. All agreed to strive to continue that tradition of dialog.