Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
A 13-year court battle over blog posts about University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann has come to a close, at least in part. Mann, a high-profile scientist who recently stepped down from his administrative role at Penn but remains a professor, reached a settlement with the National Review in which he agreed to drop his claims in exchange for the conservative magazine forgoing $531,000 in legal fees awarded to it in the case, according to a copy of the agreement provided by Mann. Court records show Mann dismissed his appeal Friday, the date of the agreement. The scientist initiated the libel lawsuit in 2012 over articles published in the National Review and a blog of the Competitive Enterprise Institute by two right-wing writers, Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn, that attacked his scholarship. In one article, Simberg called Mann the “Jerry Sandusky of climate change,” referring to the disgraced former Penn State football coach. Steyn referenced Simberg’s article in a piece in the National Review, calling Mann’s research “fraudulent.” In 2024, the case went to trial in front of a Washington, D.C., jury, and Mann won a $1 million verdict against the bloggers. But following the verdict, D.C. Superior Court Judge Alfred S. Irving reduced the verdict to $5,000, sanctioned the scientist for misrepresentations in court, and ordered him to pay his opponents’ legal fees to the tune of $1 million. The judge awarded the National Review over $500,000 in legal fees under a D.C. law aimed to protect from retaliatory lawsuits, after the publication was found immune from liability for the libelous posts as a publisher. Mann agreed to drop the appeal and not pursue other legal action related to the posts against the National Review, and in exchange the publication agreed to withdraw its request for legal fees, according to a copy of the settlement. “While this constitutes the end of a portion of this complex litigation, we would emphasize once again the key points: The jury’s verdict — finding that the posts hosted by NRO and CEI were false, defamatory, and published with malice — stands," according to a statement posted Thursday on Mann’s website. The attorney for the National Review did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for Steyn said the agreement has no bearing on the blogger, and Mann still owes him an unspecified amount as a result of the sanctions. Simberg did not respond to a request for comment. An avid social media user with a large following who joined Penn in 2022, Mann again made headlines last month for sharing posts about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The scientist faced criticism from conservative activists and politicians, including Sen. David McCormick (R., Pa.) who called on the university "to take immediate, decisive action." In late September, Mann stepped down from his administrative role as Penn’s vice provost for climate science, policy, and action because his work “at times feels in conflict with the nonpartisan role demanded of me as an administrator at a university with an established institutional neutrality policy,” he said in a blog post.
