The University of Virginia on Thursday asked a circuit court judge to reject Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s demand for records on climate scientist Michael Mann, a former professor at the Charlottesville school and creator of the controversial “hockey stick” global warming graph.
Cuccinelli last month issued the university a civil investigative demand — akin to a subpoena — as part of a fraud investigation related to five taxpayer-funded research grants. The attorney general sought a broad body of documents, including correspondences between the scientist and his colleagues.
The standoff has inflamed the rift between Cuccinelli’s critics and the lightning-rod conservative, who is also challenging President Obama’s health care overhaul and the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate carbon emissions.
In a motion filed in Albemarle County Circuit Court, U.Va. lawyers argued the subpoena threatens the academic freedom and that its “sweeping scope is certain to send a chill through the commonwealth’s colleges and universities.”
“We are fighting for preservation of the basic principles on which our country was founded,” University of Virginia Rector John Wynne said.
Mann, now at Penn State, was a central figure in the “climategate” hacked e-mail scandal, in which he and other researchers were accused of manipulating climate data to support the idea of man-made global warming. A Penn State panel in February cleared Mann of misconduct.
Cuccinelli, a conservative Republican, is demanding the records under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, a statute more frequently used to combat Medicaid fraud.
The school argued in its motion that Cuccinelli exceeded his authority under that law in seeking the records. Four of the five grants were federal, not state, and the fifth an “internal university grant” issued before the law went into effect.
“Investigating the merits of a university researcher’s methodology, results and conclusions (on climate change or any topic) goes far beyond the Attorney General’s limited statutory power,” U.Va. lawyers wrote.
The motion was supported by the Virginia American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday and the American Association of University Professors.
A spokesman for Cuccinelli did not respond to a request for comment.
