Solargate headlines the ABC World News Tonight with an investigation revealing that "Newly uncovered emails show the White House closely monitored the Energy Department's deliberations over a $535 million government loan to Solyndra, the politically-connected solar energy firm that recently went bankrupt and is now the subject of a criminal investigation." The Solargate scandal looks increasingly likely to bring down not only the Obama 'green jobs' initiative, but possibly ensnare the President himself.
By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , and
RONNIE GREENE
ABC NEWS and iWATCH NEWS
Sept. 13, 2011
Newly uncovered emails show the White House
closely monitored the Energy Department's
deliberations over a $535 million government loan to
Solyndra, the politically-connected solar energy firm
that recently went bankrupt and is now the subject of
a criminal investigation.
The company's solar panel factory was heralded as a
centerpiece of the president's green energy plan --
billed as a way to jump start a promising new
industry. And internal emails uncovered by
investigators for the House Energy and Commerce
Committee that were shared exclusively with ABC
News show the Obama administration was keenly
monitoring the progress of the loan, even as analysts
were voicing serious concerns about the risk
involved.
"This deal is NOT ready for prime time," one White
House budget analyst wrote in a March 10, 2009
email, nine days before the administration formally
announced the loan.
"If you guys think this is a bad idea, I need to unwind
the W[est] W[ing] QUICKLY," wrote Ronald A. Klain,
who was chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, in
another email sent March 7, 2009. The "West Wing" is
the portion of the White House complex that holds
the offices of the president and his top staffers. Klain
declined comment to ABC News.
Beginning in March, ABC News, in partnership with
the Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News, was first
to report on simmering questions about the role
political influence may have played in Solyndra's
selection as the Obama administration's first loan
guarantee recipient. Federal auditors had flagged the
loan, saying some applicants had benefitted from
special treatment.
WATCH the Original ABC News Report on Solyndra
...The results of the Congressional probe shared
Tuesday with ABC News show that less than two weeks
before President Bush left office, on January 9, 2009,
the Energy Department's credit committee made a
unanimous decision not to offer a loan commitment
to Solyndra.
Even after Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009,
analysts in the Energy Department and in the Office of
Management and Budget were repeatedly questioning
the wisdom of the loan. In one exchange, an Energy
official wrote of "a major outstanding issue" --
namely, that Solyndra's numbers showed it would run
out of cash in September 2011.
...Peter Lynch, a New York-based solar energy analyst,
told ABC News it took only a cursory glance through
Solyndra's prospectus to see there was a problem
with their numbers.
"It's very difficult to perceive a company with a model
that says, well, I can build something for six dollars
and sell it for three dollars," Lynch said. "Those
numbers don't generally work. You don't want to lose
three dollars for every unit you make."
Remainder at ABCNEWS.COM
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