Ken Cuccinelli sits down with WSLS to talk about first 100 days in office

ROANOKE - He’s been in office just three and a half months, and in that time Ken Cuccinelli has gone from controversy to controversy.

Most recently, Virginia’s attorney general has demanded research documents from a former University of Virginia professor that centered on climate change.

The Democratic Party of Virginia released a statement Wednesday night, calling Cuccinelli’s actions abusive and in pursuit of his own political agenda.

WARREN: “What would you say to those people?”

CUCCINELLI: “We have an obligation under the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act to police the use of state money. There's a half million dollars that went into some of these grants and the publicly available information at least leads us to say or ask if these grants were used for what they were requested for.”

WARREN: “What gives your office the authority to interpret what is scientific data?”

CUCCINELLI: “That's a worthwhile question. We aren't targeting scientific conclusions. That's not the issue. It's the expenditure of taxpayer dollars.”

WARREN: “Do you believe that manmade gasses are actually warming the climate?”

CUCCINELLI: “I think the jury is still out.” He went on to say, “I don't think the evidence at this moment as it's been presented would lead one to man caused conclusion in that respect.”

WARREN: “If you don't believe manmade gasses are warming the earth, how can we trust what your office finds? In other words, politics could be at play here?”

CUCCINELLI: “There are some people who will never believe anything we do. But, for people who know me, I'm capable of being extremely objective.”

But a quick look at some of Cuccinelli's highest profile decisions might paint a different picture. He's suing the federal government over the constitutionality of health care reform. He's taken on the EPA over climate change. He's advised against anti-discrimination policies for homosexuals. And that’s just in 100 days.

WARREN: “Some would look at that say there's an agenda here... that those are political things... not legal advice... but a political agenda?”

CUCCINELLI: “Well, you know I'm a politician and I ran on an agenda for attorney general winning the most votes that anyone has ever gotten in history and I'm doing exactly what I said I was going to do.”

WARREN: “Is the role of the attorney general to pursue a political agenda as a politician or is it to manage the state's largest law firm?”

CUCCINELLI: “The first thing I swore an oath to is to protect the US and Virginia Constitutions. That's what we're doing in the health care case. There is room for decision making. Certainly, when you look at the EPA my attorney general opponent would not have challenged the EPA. Not because it was the right or wrong thing to do, but because politically he would love to see the federal government do his dirty work for him.”

WARREN: “So politics does enter into the conversation?”

CUCCINELLI: “There's no getting around it.”

WARREN: “You’ve become a hero to some. How are you taking that?”

CUCCINELLI: “Well, don't forget the folks who view it the opposite.”

WARREN: “Well, we'll get there in a second.”

CUCCINELLI: “Certainly the heightened level of scrutiny is awkward and I'm adjusting to that on a personal level and mentally a little bit.”

WARREN: “Some would say you're controversial, and perhaps that's the charitable word for it. We've gotten emails this week calling you ‘crazy,’ ‘an embarrassment to Virginia,’ and ‘a joke.’ What do you say to those people?”

CUCCINELLI: “I say those same emails would have gone the other from my supporters if the opponent had won and been making some of these decisions. That's the nature of elected office.”

WARREN: “what have you learned, because there have been some controversies that you have stepped back from?”

CUCCINELLI: “Certainly that there are better ways to do some things that I've done in the job. The one campaign promise that I knew I'd keep 100% is that we would make mistakes.”

One of the issues Cuccinelli may have learned from is this week's lapel pin controversy, in which the attorney general changed the Virginia seal to cover up the exposed breast of the Roman Goddess on the seal. He later dropped the pins, saying the media coverage had created too big a distraction.

Cuccinelli agreed to talk to me today, only if I agree not to ask about the pin controversy.