"A judge vastly reduced climate researcher Michael Mann’s award, sanctioned his lawyers for presenting false evidence and ordered him to pay $530,000."

"For defenders of climate science, the court ruling was a big victory in the fight against misinformation.

Michael Mann, one of the country’s most prominent climate scientists, won more than $1 million last year in a defamation case. A jury found that two conservative commentators had defamed him by alleging that he was like a child molester in the way he had “molested and tortured” climate data.

Now, a year after that ruling, the case has taken a turn that leaves Mann in the position of the one who owes money.

On Wednesday, a judge sanctioned Mann’s legal team for “bad-faith trial misconduct” for overstating how much the scientist lost in potential grant funding as a result of reputational harm."

Dino Grandoni reports for the Washington Post March 14, 2025. [2]