Trump calls for review related to scientific manual used by judges

By Dawn Chmielewski

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, July 19 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump called for a “review of the Federal Judicial Center’s scientific reference guide” on climate change-related cases, writing in a post on Truth Social on Sunday that the study contained “discredited” information that caused “huge losses” for the country.

“Our Nation’s Federal Judges deserve Facts and Science, not Political Dishonesty and False Science on Climate,” Trump said. “With this FACT, I am ordering the Federal Suspension and Debarment Authorities to review this conduct.”

It was not immediately clear what “conduct” Trump wanted investigated. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, the US federal judiciary withdrew a section from the newest edition of the reference guide to scientific evidence addressing climate change after Republican state attorneys general argued it was biased against fossil fuel companies.

The Federal Judicial Center, the judiciary’s research arm, included a section addressing climate change as part of a long-planned update to the guidance, the fourth edition of which was published in December. Judges rely on the guide when dealing with cases involving scientific testimony.

That chapter, in the fourth edition of the FJC’s Reference Guide to Scientific Evidence, was written by Jessica Wentz and Radley Horton of Columbia Law School and is intended to “help judges evaluate the admissibility and weight of expert testimony and documentary evidence related to climate science.”

The Federal Judicial Center prepared the guide in partnership with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non and Kevin Buckland)