Ken Cuccinelli is trying to allay intense concerns from Virginia’s scientific and academic communities about his investigation of a former University of Virginia climate scientist.
“The same legal standards for fraud apply to the academic setting that apply elsewhere,” the attorney general told a crowd on Tuesday at a fundraiser for — what else? — an abstinence-only education group, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “The same rule of law, the same objective fact-finding process will take place.”
This week, a group of 800 scientists and academics wrote to Cuccinelli urging him to call off the probe of Michael Mann, which even some climate skeptics have referred to as a “witch hunt.”
“The need not worry, but I doubt anybody screaming about it will take that from me,” Cuccinelli added. “We’re going to work our way through the process in a professional way.”
Cuccinelli recently subpoenaed UVA for documents relating to the government-funded climate science research of Mann, who left UVA in 2005 and now teaches at Penn State. UVA’s administration has said it is still weighing whether to challenge Cuccinelli’s subpoena.
Mann was one of several scientists whose emails were released as part of last year’s Climate-Gate controversy. Cuccinelli has said he’s concerned that Mann may have committed fraud by deliberately skewing his findings — though Mann has already been cleared of wrong-doing by several investigations.
