Virginia AG Cuccinelli Keeps Up the Heat on Global Warming Fraud

Today, Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli continued his assault against Dr. Michael Mann and the Global Warming establishment. AG Cuccinelli filed a new, more specific demand for documents related to a Mann grant project when he was at the University of Virginia.

If Dr. Mann and his disciples have nothing to hide, why are they so outraged by today's announcement? If it was me and I had nothing to hide, I would take the pro-active approach and provide all the documentation requested by the subpoena to the press in an event aimed at embarrassing my opponent.

Here is today's article from the Associated Press:

RICHMOND — Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has submitted a new, scaled-down demand for documents related to a former University of Virginia climate-change researcher's work.

Cuccinelli, a global-warning skeptic, is investigating whether Michael Mann defrauded state taxpayers by using manipulated data to obtain government grants. A judge ruled in late August that the attorney general was not specific enough about the nature of Mann's alleged wrongdoing, and that he lacks authority to investigate federal grants.

The attorney general is appealing that ruling to the Virginia Supreme Court.

The new civil subpoena pertains to just one state grant and does not include four federal grants that were part of Cuccinelli's original demand. Cuccinelli also included more specific language in the new subpoena.

Cuccinelli sent the revised demand to the university's attorney last week with an Oct. 29 deadline for responding. University officials, who went to court to fight Cuccinelli's original investigative demands, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

U.Va. has argued that Cuccinelli's actions could impair academic freedom and discourage scientific research. University officials and others also have said the investigation was an attempt to take aim at Mann's conclusions rather than to uncover fraud. More than 800 college faculty members in Virginia signed a letter protesting the investigation.

"I find it extremely disturbing that Mr. Cuccinelli seeks to continue to abuse his power as the attorney general of Virginia in this way, pursuing an ongoing smear campaign against the University of Virginia, me and other climate scientists,'' Mann, who now works at Pennsylvania State University, wrote in an e-mail Monday. He called the probe "a partisan witch hunt.'"

Cuccinelli has denied that he is targeting Mann's conclusions. His office had no immediate comment Monday on the new subpoena.

Mann is one of several climate-change scientists whose work drew international attention earlier this year after hundreds of e-mails from a British climate research center were leaked. Climate-change skeptics seized on the e-mails and suggested climate scientists were systematically exaggerating the threat of climate change.

Cuccinelli is seeking e-mails exchanged between Mann and more than three dozen other scientists. His news subpoena also cites research papers written by Mann that the attorney general claims "contained false information, unsubstantiated claims and/or were otherwise misleading.''

Mann said the papers attacked by Cuccinelli were not cited in the proposal for the $214,700 state grant, which he said pertained to "natural land-vegetation-atmosphere interaction in the African savanna'' and had nothing to do with climate change.