Mann, who now works at Penn State, has been a target of global warming skeptics for his work that shows the world's temperatures have risen since the early 1900s.

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Other investigations, including one by the National Science Foundation, have found no wrongdoing by Mann.

Albemarle County Circuit Judge Paul Peatross ruled in August 2010 that Cuccinelli failed to adequately state what Mann might have done wrong, and that he lacked authority to investigate federal grants.

Cuccinelli appealed to the Supreme Court. The justices cited a different reason for ruling against Cuccinelli, saying he lacked authority under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act to issue a civil investigative demand against U.Va. because it is a state agency.

The court disagreed with the attorney general's claim that the university can be considered a "person" subject to subpoena under the anti-fraud law.

After Peatross voided Cuccinelli's original demand, the attorney general filed a more specific one that pertains only to a single $214,000 state grant.

Another judge put that demand on hold until after the Supreme Court decision.

Cuccinelli said Friday he will ask the court to dismiss that investigative demand.