‘Hockey Stick’ Creator Michael Mann Seeks Court’s Help to Ensure No Inquiry, No ‘Exoneration’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Contact: Paul Chesser, Executive Director, paul.chesser@atinstitute.org

Dr. Michael Mann, lead author of the discredited “hockey stick” graph that was once hailed by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as the “smoking gun” of the catastrophic man-made global warming theory, has asked to intervene in American Tradition Institute’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that seeks certain records produced by Mann and others while he was at the University of Virginia, for the purpose of keeping them hidden from the taxpayer.

Specifically over the weekend ATI’s Environmental Law Center received service from two Pennsylvania attorneys who seek the court’s permission to argue for Dr. Mann to intervene in ATI’s case. The attorneys also filed a motion to stay production of documents still withheld by UVA, which are to be provided to ATI’s lawyers in roughly two weeks under a protective order that UVA voluntarily agreed to in May. Dr. Mann’s lawyers also desire a hearing in mid-September, in an effort to further delay UVA’s scheduled production of records under the order. (more…)

Source:  Washington Examiner

By: Norman Leahy

Could the long-running fight over former UVA professor Michael Mann’s emails be edging toward resolution? Perhaps. Yesterday, a Prince William county judge ordered the University to comply with a FOIA request from Del. Bob Marshall and the American Tradition Institute. According to the organization’s press release, getting the state-funded school to comply with the FOIA law was a test of both patience and will:

Under FOIA the University was required to produce the documents within five days of its receipt of payment for “accessing, duplicating, supplying or searching” for the documents. Alternatively they could have entered into an agreement with ATI on when they would supply the documents, or they could have gone to court to ask for more time. They did none of the above. Instead they promised to provide some of the documents “shortly” on April 6; then specifically on May 6, 2011; and always stated they would get to the others later on. They did none of this either, so ATI went to court to compel production and compliance with the law. (more…)

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Sourece:  http://www.atinstitute.org/blog_post/show/63

The Environmental Law Center at American Tradition Institute today noted with regret a press conference scheduled for this morning by three Virginia lawmakers to announce their effort to protect the University of Virginia from compliance with an anti-fraud against the taxpayer statute. This law was passed unanimously in the state’s two legislative chambers just three years ago with full knowledge that it covered the academic class, which is uniquely dependent upon taxpayer dollars.

This move is transparently designed to substitute for the University’s faltering legal defense against Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in his pre-investigation of possible fraud involving millions of dollars. It also heightens the importance of ATI’s recent, pending request <http://www.atinstitute.org/blog_post/show/58>  for the same records sought by Mr. Cuccinelli, which thanks to his inquiry, the University no longer denies possessing, but only refuses to produce. (more…)