Sixty days went by since solar energy company Solyndra asked for CH11 bankruptcy protection end of August. A year before, the company won over half a billion dollars in federal loan guarantees through the energy department and following a visit by President Obama touring the company facilities in California.
By now, the company CEO resigned. Although, the energy department started an investigation, no one seems able to follow the money trail. Actually, this is reminiscent in the police department saying it will do an internal investigation. The result is always the same – a white wash.
With the Solyndra name not going away, rather making further inroads on Capitol Hill, the White House decided to come into the picture as well, announcing it too will investigate Solyndra and the money trail. Enter the House, which last Thursday voted to subpoena White House documents and emails related to the solar energy company. Republicans allege there is much more the White House knows and accuse Obama’s senior advisors of stonewalling.
The next day, White House counsel rejected the subpoena, saying it previously supplied some 80,000 pages on documents relating to Solyndra. There is more to come, so stay tuned.
Clearly, with as many as 80,000 plus documents existing on the Solyndra subject, a high case of solicitation and lobbying must have preceded federal loan guarantees. The amount of documents might also be an indicator of financial problems at Solyndra, still the White House supported giving the company taxpayer dollars.
Filtering through provided documentation, we learned, the White House considered bailing out Solyndra a mere week prior the company’s collapse. The plan, drawn up by investment firm Lazard Ltd. at a cost of $1 million to the taxpayer, consisted of injecting even more public funds into Solyndra and converting the loans into equity. Money is no object, flowing freely when the White House is involved.
Hopefully, the public will learn some day where all the millions of taxpayer money went. Hopefully, one day all high officials involved in Solyndra transactions (who may have benefitted) will wind up behind bars.