(Image source: Solyndra/Forbes)
BY BLAKE HANSON
It’s the Solyndra Scandal.
More than half a billion dollars in federal loans went to a failing solar company. Now recently released emails show the Obama Administration had legal concerns about giving the company money -- but gave it to them anyway. The Washington Post has the details...
“The e-mails show that Energy Department officials moved ahead anyway with a new deal that would repay company investors before taxpayers if the company defaulted. The e-mails, which were reviewed by The Washington Post, show for the first time concerns within the administration about the legality of the Energy Department’s extraordinary efforts to help Solyndra...”
The hosts of Fox and Friends are riled up over the issue, saying President Obama ignored the warning signs.
“Some of the competitors to Solyndra were saying, this company’s in bad shape, this company might go bankrupt, other people knew it. It was an open secret that Solyndra was in trouble, yet the White House kept pushing to give them money and even fast-tracked the process, it turns out according to these documents.”
Analysts are saying this is political gold for Republicans -- and you can bet your bottom dollar, Republicans are using the story against the Obama Administration. The Hill has more...
“House Republicans released an email Friday evening showing that a senior Treasury Department official in August expressed concern that the Energy Department’s early 2011 restructuring of the solar company Solyndra’s $535 million loan guarantee may have been illegal.”
So how did the Solyndra loan get so far with numerous people raising concerns? A New York Times reporter tells CNN, the White House was under serious pressure.
“There was an urgency and that is what you saw with the dispute within some of the divisions of the White House was that they felt this intense pressure to just get the money out the door.”
In a news conference, President Obama defended the handling of the Solyndra loan and reasserted the need for more clean energy.
