Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia v. Cuccinelli

A Virginia state court held that four of the five grants were issued by the federal government and thus the Attorney General could not question the professor regarding these grants. In addition, the court held that the document requests were not specific enough because they did not show sufficient reason to believe incriminating documents existed. With regard to the state grant, the court held that the Attorney General could question the professor about it.

The University of Virginia filed a lawsuit objecting to the “civil investigative demands” served by the Virginia Attorney General on the University concerning five government grants received by a professor previously employed by the University who was involved in the so-called “climategate” controversy.