WASHINGTON — A senior Energy Department official pushed hard for the
government’s $535 million loan to the now-bankrupt California solar energy company Solyndra
even after he had disclosed that his wife’s law firm represented the
company and he had promised to recuse himself from matters related to
the loan application, according to e-mails provided to Congressional
investigators by the administration.
The official, Steven J. Spinner, then a senior member of the Energy
Department’s loan guarantee oversight office and a 2008 Obama
fund-raiser, inquired frequently about the progress of the Solyndra
loan, urging the White House budget office to move more quickly on
approving it.
He also communicated directly with Solyndra officials who were anxiously
awaiting word from Washington that their loan would be approved.
“Any word on O.M.B.?” he asked another Energy Department loan officer.
“I have the O.V.P. and W.H. breathing down my neck on this,” referring
to the office of the vice president and the White House.
The new e-mails provide further evidence of high-level cheerleading on
behalf of Solyndra, a maker of innovative tubular rooftop solar panels
that declared bankruptcy last month and laid off 1,100 workers.
But even as Solyndra was being promoted as a model of new technology,
administration officials were raising concerns about its viability, the
legality of a later restructuring and whether the government was
sufficiently protected should the business fail.
The company was the first recipient of a federally guaranteed loan for
alternative energy projects, but now is being investigated by the
Justice Department over whether it provided misleading financial
information to federal authorities. Congressional investigators are also
looking at whether the Obama administration adequately oversaw the
granting of the loan.
The latest e-mails also show that senior White House and Treasury
Department officials voiced concerns at several stages of the ill-fated
loan guarantee. At one point, they show that the White House considered
making a bigger public event than previously known of the formal
approval of the company’s financing package.
Top officials, including Rahm Emanuel, then the White House chief of
staff, weighed whether President Obama would visit the company to
formally announce the loan guarantee, which occurred in September 2009.
Ultimately, Mr. Obama did not participate in the event. Vice President
Joseph R. Biden Jr. did by video teleconference and Energy Secretary
Steven Chu attended. Earlier, Carol Browner, the White House coordinator
for energy and climate change policy, met with an investor in the company.
Still, the e-mails reveal that some White House officials were concerned
about the company’s health and the haste with which the loan guarantees
were moving, while others were eager to hurry it along to make a public
relations splash.
They also show that days before the Obama administration gave
conditional approval to the loan guarantee, a major investor behind the
deal met with Ms. Browner. The investor, David J. Prend, a co-founder of
Rockport Capital, a high-technology venture capital firm, met with Ms. Browner in late February 2009 and brought up Solyndra, whose application was then pending.
Solyndra’s chief executive at the time, Chris Gronet, then wrote to the
White House on March 6 to describe the company’s plans, after being
contacted by Mr. Prend and told to follow up with the White House. “We
just need to complete the D.O.E. process and raise the equity portion of
the project!” Mr. Gronet wrote, referring to the Department of Energy.
“The company is ramping up production to meet a very strong demand.”
Greg Nelson, a midlevel White House staff member, wrote back to Mr.
Gronet on March 8, 2009: “It looks like a great product, and the plans
for Fab 2 are inspiring,” referring to the manufacturing plant that the
federal government would finance. Within days, the Energy Department’s
credit committee voted to approve the conditional $535 million loan. It
was publicly announced on March 21.
Energy Department documents indicate that Mr. Spinner was a senior
member of the team involved in vetting the loans and was instrumental in
the Solyndra package. His wife, Allison B. Spinner, is a partner at
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a Palo Alto, Calif., law firm that
represents dozens of Silicon Valley technology firms.
Through her office, Ms. Spinner declined to comment. Mr. Spinner, who
has since left the government, did not respond to a message left at his
wife’s office.
An Energy Department spokesman, Damien LaVera, said the initial terms of
the Solyndra loan guarantee were issued before Mr. Spinner joined the
staff. Mr. LaVera added that because Ms. Spinner agreed not to
participate in or receive any financial compensation from her law firm
for work concerning Solyndra, Mr. Spinner was allowed by government
ethics officials to oversee the company’s applications. He did not make
decisions on the Solyndra transaction.
“As agreed, I will recuse myself from any active participation in any of
these applications,” Mr. Spinner wrote in September 2009, after sending
dozens of e-mails in August to the head of the Energy Department loan
program and other energy and Obama administration officials asking about
the Solyndra project.
At that time, officials from the White House budget office were
complaining of being rushed to approve a deal about which they had
significant concerns.
Administration officials said Friday that while Mr. Spinner was involved
in helping coordinate the final steps necessary to clear up disputes so
that the administration could commit the money to Solyndra, it does not
mean he violated his agreement not to play a role in formally
evaluating the loan application.
Despite the eagerness of Mr. Spinner and other Energy Department
officials to see the loan approved, other administration officials
continued to raise flags about the company’s viability and the
completeness of the loan application package.
A Treasury Department official objected to the decision by the Energy
Department that allowed company investors to get first in line among
creditors, instead of the federal government, for part of their
investment.
“Our legal counsel believes that the statute and the D.O.E. regulations
both require that the guaranteed loan should not be subordinate to any
loan or other debt obligation,” said an Aug. 17, 2011, e-mail from a
Treasury official to Jeffrey D. Zients, a top official at the White
House budget office.
An administration official said Friday that the Energy Department
disagreed and believed that it did have the legal authority to give
priority to private investors, to secure additional financing.
Comments
Post a Comment