Solyndra

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Solyndra Almost Scored Navy Deal

Pentagon pulled out ahead of bankruptcy filing

(Newser) - Solar-energy firm Solyndra was one of three companies picked for a $1 million Navy pilot program for new technologies—but the Navy cut ties to the firm the day before Solyndra declared bankruptcy. A top investor in Solyndra, RockPort Capital, also sits on the Pentagon's emerging technology panel. When...

Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison Resigns
 Solyndra CEO 
 Resigns 
Oct 13, 2011 2:10 PM CDT

Solyndra CEO Resigns

Brian Harrison considered leaving before bankruptcy filing: company

(Newser) - The CEO of the solar energy company that sought bankruptcy protection after receiving a $528 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration has resigned. Solyndra said in papers filed in Delaware bankruptcy court today that Brian Harrison resigned last Friday. Harrison's resignation was contemplated even before the company sought...

Treasury Worried That Solyndra Loan Was Illegal

Energy Dept. pushed ahead, amid potential conflict of interest

(Newser) - New emails are out in the Solyndra mess , and it's probably not a great day to be a guy named Steve Spinner. He is an Obama-fundraiser-turned-Energy-Department-official who pushed hard for the loan even though he promised to recuse himself—because his wife worked as an attorney for the firm...

Obama&#39;s &#39;Scandal-Free&#39; Streak Sets Record
Obama's 'Scandal-Free' Streak Sets Record
study says
Oct 7, 2011 8:43 AM CDT

Obama's 'Scandal-Free' Streak Sets Record

Because Solyndra doesn't count ... yet

(Newser) - Yesterday Barack Obama officially broke George W. Bush’s record for the longest scandal-free streak by a president in the post-Watergate era—at least by one political scientist’s criteria. Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan ran a study earlier this year on presidential scandals, which he defines as "widespread elite...

Energy Loan Official Leaving Amid Solyndra Flap

White House says Jonathan Silver's departure was long planned

(Newser) - The head of the Energy Department's embattled clean-energy loan program is leaving in what officials called a planned departure. Jonathan Silver, who has headed the loan program since November 2009, is leaving to join a nonpartisan think tank. The program has come under fire from Republicans after Solyndra , a...

White House Almost Gave Solyndra Another Loan

Even as auditors warned the company was in trouble

(Newser) - Just days after Solyndra received its $535 million government-backed loan in September 2009 it applied for another one—this time for a mere $469 million—and the Energy Department put that request on a fast-tracked priority list, sources tell the Washington Post . The department was still seriously considering the request...

Emails Warned Obama About Solyndra Mess

Officials, investors shocked by investment in solar firm

(Newser) - Scared White House officials and private investors gave President Obama fair warning about his visit to Solyndra, the New York Times reports. Released today from a Congressional investigation, the emails told Obama not to visit the solar equipment manufacturer in 2009 because it would go belly up, despite massive federal...

Energy Sec Slammed in Solyndra Mess

Too much science, not enough politics at Energy Dept., say critics

(Newser) - The ugly tanking of government-funded solar-energy company Solyndra has many people questioning whether Energy Secretary Steven Chu can handle the job, reports Politico . "Just because you are a Nobel Prize-winning physicist doesn't mean you'd be a good orthopedic surgeon," criticized a Bush-era Energy Department official. "...

US Was Blind to Cracks at Solyndra

Firm launched $1.8M lobbying campaign

(Newser) - The Obama administration, eager to approve funding for a hard-lobbying Solyndra, overlooked key flaws that ultimately brought down the company, insiders and analysts tell the New York Times . None of the other solar panel firms that received federal loan guarantees hired lobbyists; “it was made clear to us early...

Ex-Solyndra Employees Saw Scads of Wasted Money

Government loan 'made people sloppy'

(Newser) - Cheer up, taxpayers: Solyndra may never pay back its $535 million loan , but it put the money to good use. Like, for example, building a shiny conference room with nifty glass walls that could turn solid gray at the flip of a switch. That’s one of several questionable expenditures...

Solyndra Execs Will Take 5th at House Hearing

Lawyers advise CEO and CFO to keep mum

(Newser) - When Solyndra bosses arrive for a House hearing this week, they won’t be saying much. CEO Brian Harrison and CFO Bill Stover plan to take the Fifth during congressional questioning Friday, their lawyers told House investigators in letters. “I have advised Mr. Harrison that he should decline to...

Issa to Investigate Obama on Solyndra, LightSquared

House oversight chairman criticizes 'crony capitalism'

(Newser) - Darrell Issa has long promised to use his House oversight panel to investigate the Obama administration, and the White House has served up two hanging fastballs for him: Solyndra and LightSquared. The chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee told C-SPAN today that he intends to investigate the administration'...

Stewart Slams White House Over Solyndra

Solar panel flop means happy days for Fox, funnyman says

(Newser) - The Solandra saga has provided an early Christmas present for Obama foes hoping for a scandal, says Jon Stewart. The Daily Show host—showing clips of Obama hailing green energy investment and touring the now-shuttered solar panel plant which received $535 million in stimulus cash—says that while the scandal...

Green Jobs Program Coming Up Short on Jobs

Loans producing a lot fewer jobs than advertised

(Newser) - President Obama’s “green jobs” loan program—which recently grabbed the spotlight thanks to Solyndra's collapse —isn’t producing anything close to the 65,000 jobs promised, at least not directly. The program has already lent out half of the $38.6 billion allotted to it, but...

Obama Rushed Solyndra Loan
 Obama Rushed Solyndra Loan 
Sep 14, 2011 7:06 AM CDT

Obama Rushed Solyndra Loan

Congressional investigation says OMB had misgivings

(Newser) - The White House pressed the Office of Budget and Management to speed up its approval of a $535 million loan to now-bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra, so that Joe Biden could announce it at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the company’s new factory, according to emails that Republican congressional...

FBI Descends on Solyndra
 FBI Descends on Solyndra 
Sep 8, 2011 11:54 AM CDT

FBI Descends on Solyndra

Orders come from Department of Energy

(Newser) - In the wake of last week’s shocking bankruptcy filing by solar firm Solyndra, FBI agents descended on the company headquarters with search warrants today. An FBI spokesperson tells NBC News the investigation is at the request of the inspector general of the Department of Energy. Congress demanded a hearing...

Solar Firm Touted by Obama Goes Belly-Up

...leaving Uncle Sam on the hook for $535M

(Newser) - One of the showpieces for President Obama’s green jobs push is going under—and leaving the federal government on the hook for $535 million worth of guaranteed loans in the process. Solyndra, a California-based solar cell manufacturer, told workers yesterday that it would be closing its remaining plant, laying...

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