RW Attorney General in VA starts witch hunt on Climate Change Professor under FRAUD statute

Nikki Stone1

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Wed May-26-10 01:06 PM
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RW Attorney General in VA starts witch hunt on Climate Change Professor under FRAUD statute

VA Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II.

If you remember, this is the Attorney General who said that Virginia law did not allow public colleges "to adopt rules protecting gay employees or students from discrimination." Now, VA Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II is back in a witch hunt after a climate scientist. He is investigating Dr. Michael E. Mann, a University of VA professor for six years, for fraud under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.

"Mr. Cuccinelli is relying on (the Act) in this instance because, he has said, "at least some information suggests" that Mr. Mann used research data that he knew was inaccurate to seek university grants while he was at Virginia.

So basically, the VA AG is charging a climate scientist with fraud because he applied for state grant money to study climate change, a field which, thanks to the Climate-gate emails is now considered questionable in some circles. Hold onto your hats.

http://chronicle.com/article/State-Investigation-Could-Cast/65672/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Investigation by Va. Attorney General Could Cast a Chill on Climate Research

.... Then, in late April, (Cuccinelli) began what he says is a fraud investigation focused on Michael E. Mann, a high-profile climate-change researcher who was a faculty member at the University of Virginia from 1999 to 2005. Mr. Mann is now director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University at University Park.

...The fraud investigation...has prompted much deeper concern among universities and research and faculty organizations nationwide. Is Mr. Cuccinelli, as he says, safeguarding taxpayers' interests by making sure that Mr. Mann did not seek money through a state university based on manipulated climate-research data? Is he misusing his prosecutorial powers to bash higher education for political gain, as critics assert? Is he fishing for potentially damaging information at the behest of climate-change skeptics, as Mr. Mann suggests?

....Initially, Mr. Cuccinelli gave the university just over a month to produce what could amount to thousands of documents, and university officials responded cautiously. But after three weeks, it hired Hogan Lovells, a prominent law firm, to explore its options. In the meantime, the university's law-school faculty and its Faculty Senate's Executive Council criticized Mr. Cuccinelli, as did several organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of University Professors, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. The critics share a common theme. Investigating Mr. Mann, "without having provided any evidence that such an investigation is legitimately warranted, is likely to chill academic inquiry at the University of Virginia and at other state colleges and universities for years to come," said Will Creeley, director of legal and public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, in a letter asking the attorney general to reconsider.

...Brian J. Gottstein, Mr. Cuccinelli's spokesman, explained the investigation this way in a written statement to The Chronicle: "The revelations of Climategate indicate that some climate data may have been deliberately manipulated to arrive at pre-set conclusions. The use of manipulated data to apply for taxpayer-funded research grants in Virginia is potentially fraud. Given this, the only prudent thing to do was to look into it."

...Asked about Mr. Mann in May on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, a Washington public-radio program, Mr. Cuccinelli was quick to say, "We're not investigating his academic work—that subpoena is directed at the expenditure of dollars." He added: "Whether he does a good job, bad job, or I don't like the outcome—and I think everybody already knows that his position on some of this is one that I question—that is not what that's about. This is about state tax dollars."
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