White House Brushed Off Solyndra Worries, Emails Show
By DEBORAH SOLOMON WASHINGTON—White House officials dismissed concerns about Solyndra LLC ahead of President Barack Obama's May 2010 visit to the failed solar-panel maker, despite acknowledging that the company and other clean-energy ventures could go "belly-up" by the 2012 election, according to emails released by Democratic lawmakers.
The emails, provided to lawmakers in connection with a congressional investigation, continue to show White House and Department of Energy officials ignoring warning signs about the health of Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month.
The emails also show continuing debate between Energy Department officials and the Office of Management and Budget, which repeatedly warned about Solyndra's financial health. The company received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Energy Department in 2009.
Democratic lawmakers said the emails show a hefty internal debate about the project but don't show improper influence or that politics, including campaign donations to Mr. Obama from a Solyndra investor, played any role. Republicans have alleged that politics influenced the Obama administration's decision to give Solyndra a loan guarantee.
"The documents produced Friday, like the other documents received by the Subcommittee to date in the Solyndra investigation, do not contain evidence that government decisions relating to Solyndra were influenced by considerations relating to campaign donations," Democratic lawmakers said in a memo. "Rather, the documents show that there was internal disagreement within the Administration about Solyndra's viability and the effectiveness of the loan guarantee program throughout the process."
As the White House prepared for Mr. Obama's visit, internal and external warnings were sounding about the company's health, according to emails and excerpts provided by lawmakers.
"I am increasingly worried that this visit could prove embarrassing to the Administration in the not too distant future, given 1) what we just heard today from DOE that Solyndra is delaying their IPO at least until the end of the year, and 2) what the auditors said about Solyndra making it through the year absent new financing," warned an email from one OMB staffer to another.
An OMB staffer also wrote: "Hope doesn't default before" Mr. Obama's May 26 visit.
Two days before Mr. Obama's tour of Solyndra, Steve Westly, a California venture capitalist, emailed Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, saying the company was risky for Mr. Obama and visiting it could "haunt him in the next 18 months if Solyndra hits the wall, files for bankruptcy, etc."
Ms. Jarrett emailed Ron Klain, then chief of staff to Vice President Joseph Biden, who acknowledged "some risk factors here—but that's true of any innovative company that POTUS [president of the United States] would visit. It looks like it is OK to me, but if you feel otherwise, let me know." Mr. Klain then told Ms. Jarrett: "The reality is that if POTUS visited 10 such places over the next 10 months, probably a few will be belly-up by election day 2012—but that to me is the reality of saying that we want to help promote cutting edge, new economy industries."
The memo was sent to Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on oversight and investigations and was written by that subcommittee's Democratic staff.
In spring 2010, OMB officials expressed frustration with how the Energy Department was monitoring Solyndra, including its cash flow.
Write to Deborah Solomon at deborah.solomon@wsj.com |
