Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued a new subpoena for documents of former University of Virginia professor related to the climatologist Michael Mann, who Cuccinelli claims knowingly misled the nation with claims that global warming was harming the earth.
This is Cuccinelli’s second attempt to get those documents and his new subpoena was crafted to overcome objections from Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr., who in August thwarted Cuccinelli’s original demand for the papers. The judge said Cuccinelli didn’t have proper claim to certain grant documents that Cuccinelli claimed proved that Mann, who now works at Penn State, defrauded Virginia taxpayers by misusing public grant money.
“While the [new subpoena] was drafted to comply with the judge’s ruling, we do not believe that the ruling was correct in all of its particulars,” said Cuccinelli. “Accordingly, we have noted that we will appeal the ruling while continuing our ongoing investigation.”
The Union of Concerned Scientists issued a statement Monday blasting Cuccinelli’s latest filing.
“Here we go again,” said Francesca Grifo, senior scientist and director of the UCS Scientific Integrity Program. “The attorney general continues to harass Michael Mann and other climate scientists simply because their results don’t fit with his political views.”
