The dubious investigation of Dr. Charles Monnett

While there's been some attention to the ongoing trial of Italian scientists, developments in the case of Charles Monnett - author of a 2006 paper about drowned polar bear sightings - are receiving little. I haven't followed the case and wouldn't make any strong assertions about this being politically motivated (though Inhofe's involvement sets off alarm bells), but some of the recent developments - including that the IG's investigation is itself now being investigated, as well as revelations in PEER's rebuttal - leave me deeply suspicious.

In a letter recently sent to U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) on the case, Acting IG Mary Kendall claimed her agency would not “opine on the substance of the underlying science.” Yet during an August 9th interview, IG agents continued to press Dr. Monnett on details of the 2006 peer-reviewed article in the journal Polar Biology, including how the paper’s abstract was edited, how comments made by anonymous peer reviewers were resolved and whether a conservative estimate was within the bounds of good science.