Emails released by the Heartland Institute this week show that scientist Peter Gleick apparently created a G-mail account under the name of an existing board member to trick the group, which casts doubt on the science of man-made climate change, into sending him internal documents that he later sent to the press.
“Can you please add… this personal email address to the Board mailing list for all future Board communications?” Gleick allegedly wrote in an email on Jan. 27. “Do not delete my [redacted] address, just add this one as a duplicate.”
Gleick admitted to sending the emails under a fake name earlier this week and apologized for his actions. The internal documents have already sprung a call for a congressional hearing into whether, as laid out in the documents, a scientist in the Interior Department was paid by the group, an apparent violation of rules for federal workers.
Gleick evidently continued sending emails requesting additional documents like past board minutes through at least Feb. 8.
The Heartland Institute said in a press release that the first email was sent on the same day as Gleick “rejected a cordial invitation to debate climate science at The Heartland Institute’s 2012 anniversary benefit dinner in August.” The group also called on news outlets which have published the “stolen” documents and a climate change strategy memo they maintain was “fake” to take the material offline.
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