George Mason University officials have confirmed that they have started investigating misconduct and plagiarism charges that were made against an acclaimed climate science critic.

A letter dated July 28, 2010 written by GMU indicated that investigation proceedings against Professor Edward Wegman are going to be completed before the end of September.

In 2006, Professor Edward Wegman, GMU statistics professor spearheaded a crucial Congressional committee reports that was critical of the reconstructions of various past climate conditions by scientists, notably in 1999.

Daniel Walsch, the GMU spokesman, confirms that the Fairfax-based university is conducting investigations on allegations of a partly plagiarized report by Wegman, which is also alleged to contain fabrications.

Only last month, John Mashey, a computer scientist, produced a 250-page report that dwelt on these very claims. This report was published in the Deep Climate website. Mashey’s analysis, he says, shows that out of the 91 pages produced in 2006, 35 of them are plagiarized.

When contacted by phone, Wegman said, ‘I’m very aware of this report, but I have already been asked by this university to refrain from commenting on this issue until all these issues have been completely settled. He adds that ‘some litigation is underway’. ‘Walsh has also confirmed that the university asked Wegman to refrain from giving out any comments’.

Walsch goes on to talk about Dr. Wegman’s employment status: ‘his status as a university’s employee and a faculty member has not yet changed at all’. Walsch even clarified that Bradley’s complaint is undergoing formal investigation at the university, and ‘it has indeed moved past the preliminary ‘inquiry’ stage’. According to Walsch, the investigation is now in the committee investigation stage.

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