University Presents CID Arguments in Circuit Court

August 22, 2010 — Oral arguments were held Friday in Albemarle County
Circuit Court, with the University of Virginia again asking the court
to set aside the Virginia attorney general's civil investigative
demands, or CIDs, regarding a former professor's climate research.

Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. said he hoped to issue an opinion in the
next 10 days.

At issue is whether U.Va. must comply with two CIDs from the Office of
the Attorney General, which wants to investigate whether grants
awarded to former U.Va. professor Michael Mann were obtained using
fraudulent or manipulated data.

Mann, an assistant professor of environmental sciences at the
University from 1999 to 2005, is known for his research on global
warming. He has since joined the faculty of The Pennsylvania State
University.

The University's arguments revolved less around global warming than
whether the attorney general acted in accordance with the requirements
of the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, -- or FATA -- under which the CIDs
were issued.

Chuck Rosenberg of the Washington, D.C., firm of Hogan Lovells
represented the University. The General Assembly, he noted, did not
include state agencies in certain provisions of FATA, and Virginia
courts have ruled that public universities are agencies of the state.

"They are funded, controlled and answerable to the General Assembly,"
he said, calling this "the most important threshold issue."

Rosenberg noted that FATA does not cover the grants the attorney
general seeks to investigate. The CIDs request information and
documents in connection with five grants, as well as correspondence
between Mann and nearly 40 scientists and other individuals over an 11-
year period. The five grants at issue – four of them awarded by
federal agencies and involving the disbursement of federal funds –
totaled some $466,000.

Rosenberg said that federal funds don't become state money because
they are moved through a university." If a grant is misused, he said,
"it's not a claim on the commonwealth. It's a claim on the federal
government." The one non-federal grant, he said, was awarded two years
before FATA was enacted.

He reiterated the University's position that the CIDs didn't state an
adequate rationale for an investigation and did not "state the nature
of the conduct that constitutes a violation of FATA." Judge Peatross
sought to understand that as well, and repeatedly asked Deputy
Attorney General Wesley Russell Jr. to describe what Mann had done
that made him subject to an investigation.

"There's significant international controversy over whether he has
manipulated data in his work," Russell said, dismissing as irrelevant
several academic reviews of Mann's work that found no
inconsistencies.

Rosenberg argued that First Amendment protections for academic freedom
must also inform the judge's decision. "No scientific investigation
has ever found that Mr. Mann has ever engaged in fraudulent conduct or
manipulated data," he said. "Even some of Mr. Mann's harshest critics
concede that."

Pointing to an open letter to the attorney general from Thomas Fuller,
a Mann critic, Rosenberg read: "No matter what has prompted your
investigation, there is no doubt that it will be interpreted as a
witch hunt. If you are in fact investigating a credentialed scientist
for results that do not suit your political opinion, that
interpretation is correct."

///

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli IS a credentialed scientist
so the scientific/legal dispute boils down to the word of one
credentialed scientist against another. "Witch hunt" is nonsense.
Michael E. Mann will be shown to be a witch doctor in a reputable
court of law. All the other witch doctors inhabiting academia should
resign, because the writing is on the wall and the Power of God is
upon us.

///

Cost of this newsgroup posting was covered by the Betty White Senior
Citizens Home and People's Drug Mart. The People have spoken.

///

On Aug 24, 11:11*am, TKeating wrote:

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli IS a credentialed scientist
so the scientific/legal dispute boils down to the word of one
credentialed scientist against another.

By that logic, if Ken were to play him at tennis, it would be an
experiment, not a game. That you do not realise this is sufficient to
judge your competence to judge this matter.

"Witch hunt" is nonsense.

The claim that he committed scientific fraud was tested by scientific
bodies. The political witch-hunt was exposed for what it was.

Michael E. Mann will be shown to be a witch doctor in a reputable
court of law. All the other witch doctors inhabiting academia should
resign, because the writing is on the wall and the Power of God is
upon us.

Ahh - you're a `magic sky-pixie' cretin. That imaginary `authority'
would have a lot to answer for if it ever showed it's face in a court.

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:11:36 -0700 (PDT), TKeating
wrote:

University Presents CID Arguments in Circuit Court

August 22, 2010 — Oral arguments were held Friday in Albemarle County
Circuit Court, with the University of Virginia again asking the court
to set aside the Virginia attorney general's civil investigative
demands, or CIDs, regarding a former professor's climate research.

Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. said he hoped to issue an opinion in the
next 10 days.

snip..

This reply is directed to the Criminal FF/drug addicted ID troll,
posing as Mr. Keating..

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/vir...lli_subpo.html
"Judge quashes Cuccinelli subpoena of U-Va. records"

A couple of excerpts..

"An Albemarle County Circuit Court judge has set aside a subpoena
issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University
of Virginia seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist
and former university professor Michael Mann."


"Mann, meanwhile, said he was pleased with the judge's ruling.

"I'm very pleased that the judge has ruled in our favor," he said in a
statement. "It is a victory not just for me and the university, but
for all scientists who live in fear that they may be subject to a
politically-motivated witch hunt when their research findings prove
inconvenient to powerful vested interests. "