FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement regarding the University of Virginia’s challenge of the attorney general’s civil investigative demand

RICHMOND (May 28, 2010) – Statement:

The attorney general’s office received a copy of the University of Virginia’s petition to the court challenging the request of documents and emails of former professor Michael Mann.  We are reviewing the petition, and we are negotiating with UVA’s attorneys to establish a briefing schedule to allow this matter to be resolved by the court as soon as possible.  Our full response will be available when we file it with the court.

Previous statement:

The revelations of Climate-gate 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.

This is a fraud investigation and the attorney general’s office is not investigating Dr. Mann’s scientific conclusions.  The legal standards for the misuse of taxpayer dollars apply the same at universities as they do at any other agency of state government.  This is about rooting out possible fraud and not about infringing upon academic freedom.

The attorney general is working with the University of Virginia to get this investigation resolved quickly with the least disruption to the university as possible.  UVA has asked for a deadline extension (to July 26) to turn over the documents requested through the CID.  UVA also asked for a reduced scope for the amount of documents requested.  Both were considered reasonable requests and were agreed to by the attorney general.

In addition, UVA has requested to hire outside counsel for this matter.  This is another accommodation the attorney general has agreed to.

About Tom White

Tom is a US Navy Veteran, owns an Insurance Agency and is currently an IT Manager for a Virginia Distributor. He has been published in American Thinker, currently writes for the Richmond Examiner as well as Virginia Right! Blog. Tom lives in Hanover County, Va and is involved in politics at every level and is a Recovering Republican who has finally had enough of the War on Conservatives in progress with the Leadership of the GOP on a National Level.

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