White House Rushed Loan to Now Belly-Up Solyndra

Reuters
Adam Martin 427 Views Sep 14, 2011

A new batch of White House emails made public Tuesday night suggests the Obama administration pushed for approval of a $535 million loan to solar maker Solyndra even as one of its analysts warned the deal was "not ready for prime time," ABC News reports. The emails, uncovered by investigators for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is holding a hearing on the loan on Wednesday, appeared to show the administration rushing to get approval from the Office of Management and Budget in order to announce the loan at Solyndra factory groundbreaking in September 2009. According to The Washington Post, "One e-mail from an OMB official referred to 'the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra.' Another complained, 'There isn’t time to negotiate.'" Vice President Joe Biden's office seems to be the entity most concerned with securing the Solyndra loan, but even Biden's chief of staff, Ronald A. Klain, had his reservations. "If you guys think this is a bad idea, I need to unwind the W[est] W[ing] QUICKLY," Clain wrote in March 2009, according to ABC. Solyndra, of course, received the high-profile loan as part of a White house green jobs initiative, but declared bankruptcy last week, a few days before FBI agents raided its headquarters.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at amartin at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Sources

Related Articles   More by Adam Martin

Obama Taxes Show He Made $1.7 Million Last Year

Solar Company Obama Championed Now Getting Raided by the Feds

Obama Is 20 Days Away from Beating Bush's Scandal-Free Record

 

Shep Smith Apologizes After Fox News Airs a Suicide

France Plans to Tax Millionaires at 75%

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App