Ken Cuccinelli II, attorney general of the state of Virginia, is pressing a civil fraud investigation into the research carried out by Michael ("hide the decline") Mann while he was professor at the state-funded University of Virginia. Rosalind S. Helderman of the Washington Post writes:

The civil investigative demand asks for all data and materials presented by former professor Michael Mann when he applied for five research grants from the university. It also gives the school until May 27 to produce all correspondence or e-mails between Mann and 39 other scientists since 1999.

The actions by Cuccinelli (R) -- who has sued the federal government over its regulation of greenhouse gases and has become a leading national voice in alleging that scientists have skewed data to show evidence the Earth is warming -- were cheered by those on the right, who have long targeted Mann as a leading proponent of the theory.