Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Solyndra Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greatplains_guy who wrote (308)	12/14/2011 2:48:57 PM
From: joseffy	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1400

Grand jury begins probe of Solyndra ..................................................................................................................................... Attorneys’ billing shows preparation By Jim McElhatton The Washington Times Tuesday, December 13, 2011 washingtontimes.com A grand jury has begun investigating Solyndra LLC, the failed California solar-panel maker that lost more than a half-billion dollars in federal loans, according to law-firm billing records.Weeks after Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in September, a judge allowed the company to hire a law firm to represent it in what court records at the time called a “federal criminal investigation.” Now the firm, K&L Gates, has filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware a detailed, hour-by-hour account of how attorneys have been spending their time. Most of their efforts have focused on what the firm called the U.S. attorney’s office and Department of Justice investigation of Solyndra. In an 18-page invoice from the law firm dated Dec. 9, the words “grand jury” appear numerous times: “Prepare response to grand jury subpoena,” one entry reads. Another said, “Review and prepare documents to respond to grand jury subpoena.” The invoices also point to a meeting on Oct. 14 between K&L Gates attorney Jeffrey L. Bornstein, a former federal prosecutor in San Francisco, and an assistant U.S. attorney identified in the billing records only as “J. Nedrow.” Jeffrey Nedrow is an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, which is the same office overseeing the Solyndra investigation. Mr. Nedrow was a prosecutor in the criminal trial against former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds. Yet another entry refers to a telephone call with “AUSA” — an abbreviation in legal circles that refers to assistant U.S. attorney — “regarding grand jury subpoena.” The formation of an investigative grand jury would mark a significant development in the criminal investigation into Solyndra, which saw its offices raided by the FBI within days of its bankruptcy filing in September. “The subpoenas would be just the tip of the iceberg,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and now a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “The first things to happen in grand juries are subpoenas to collect every possible document you can.” Federal authorities aren’t commenting on the probe. Jack Gillund, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined to comment Tuesday when asked about a grand jury. In an email Tuesday, Mr. Bornstein said, “Solyndra is continuing to cooperate with the United States Attorney’s Office in connection with its investigation.” Grand jury subpoena When Solyndra first sought to hire K&L Gates as special counsel, attorneys for the solar company cited the firm’s familiarity with the federal investigation and “many of the potential issues that may arise in the context of that investigation and potential litigation.” K&L Gates attorneys reported 326 hours of work from Sept. 12 to Nov. 30, with rates ranging from $310 per hour for a paralegal to $640 per hour for Mr. Bornstein, who worked just over 80 hours. Another attorney worked about 50 hours at a rate of $525 per hour. In recent court papers, the law firm described its work representing Solyndra as being “in connection with the United States Attorney’s Office & Department of Justice investigation of debtors.” The firm said in the filings that it worked with Solyndra on the production and review of documents, as well as responding “to subpoenas and other law enforcement requests.” The first mention of a grand jury in the billing records came on Oct. 9, when Mr. Bornstein reported nearly an hour’s worth of work that included reviewing “grand jury subpoena.” The next day, another attorney worked on drafting correspondence to “AUSA regarding grand jury subpoena.” Records also refer to “AUSA’s expedited request for materials.” Customer contracts The law firm’s billing records shed little light on the nature of the investigation, but it’s clear federal authorities are interested in contracting issues. In October, Benjamin Schwartz, a vice president and lawyer at Solyndra, testified in a bankruptcy hearing that customer contract matters were “called out” in the FBI search warrant. During the FBI raid, he also said the federal agents had copied the company’s electronic database, and so investigators would have access to any information at Solyndra in an electronic format. Mr. Schwartz’s testimony came after the U.S. Office of the Trustee, an arm of the Justice Department, accused Solyndra of refusing to discuss the company’s contracts in a bid to have a trustee take over the failed company. A judge denied the request. Contracts also surface in the K&L billing records. On Oct. 13, Mr. Bornstein participated in a conference call with “B. Schwartz regarding customer contract,” while another attorney reported participating in a conference “regarding customer contract” that same day, records show. The attorneys’ hourly bills make apparent reference to the ongoing investigation into Solyndra by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. K&L Gates attorneys reported reviewing congressional testimony and discussing “congressional issues,” billing records show. The committee has been investigating Solyndra since early this year. So far, committee hearings have exposed sharp partisan divides on Solyndra. Republicans have pushed to learn whether politics played any role in the award of federal loans to the company or in the failed efforts to keep the company afloat. Democrats have said the loans were given based on the merits. Either way, elected officials from both parties have questioned whether Solyndra executives misled Congress when assuring key lawmakers that the company’s prospects were good just weeks before going bankrupt. The company remains a political headache for the Obama administration. Solyndra was awarded more than a half-billion dollars in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy in 2009. The bankrupt company’s troubles have been magnified by the public backing it won from the top reaches of government, including a tour of the company last year by President Obama and remarks by Vice President Joseph R. Biden and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a 2009 ceremony announcing the federal loan guarantees.

To: greatplains_guy who wrote (308)	12/17/2011 9:28:20 AM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1400

Big Obama donor cashed in on ‘stimulus’. Energy company received hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds December 15, 2011 by Aaron Klein kleinonline.wnd.com The founder of an energy company that benefited from deals involving hundreds of millions in “stimulus” money made the maximum donation allowable to President Obama’s inauguration, WND has learned. Peter L. Corsell, founder of GridPoint Inc., contributed $50,000 to the inauguration. Corsell served as the Gridpoint’s chief executive officer from the company’s inception until transitioning to the position of non-executive chairman in October, 2010. Yesterday, KleinOnline broke the story that an Obama adviser who played a key role in developing the energy provisions of the so-called stimulus bill serves on the boards of Gridpoint as well as several other companies that recently received government funds, including “stimulus” money. TJ Glauthier served on Obama’s 2008 White House Transition Team. He is widely credited with helping to craft the energy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the “stimulus.” In addition to serving on the boards of major energy companies, Glauthier previously held two presidential appointments during the Clinton administration. He was the Energy Department’s deputy secretary and chief operating officer, the second-highest ranking official. Earlier, he served in the White House for five years as the associate director for natural resources, energy and science in the Office of Management and Budget. Glauthier is tied to several energy companies that benefited from the “stimulus” bill he helped to craft. One such company investigated by KleinOnline is GridPoint Inc., where he was appointed to the board in March 2008. GridPoint provides utilities with software solutions for electrical grid management and electric power demand and supply balancing. The “stimulus” provides $4.5 billion for so-called smart grid projects. GridPoint has benefited from scores of smart grid deals funded by the “stimulus” bill. The company partnered with the Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec), Nissan, the Idaho National Laboratory and others in a project to deploy electric vehicles (EVs) and their charging infrastructure in five states. The Energy Department had awarded eTec almost $100 million in “stimulus” funds to support the project. GridPoint’s role in the eTec project was to supply smart charging and data logging capability to utilities located in strategic markets of eTec’s program in Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. GridPoint also benefited from “stimulus” funds when it recently provided home energy management, load management and electric vehicle management software solutions for a KCP&L’s Green Impact Zone SmartGrid Demonstration in Kansas City, Mo. The project was the recipient of stimulus funding. Additionally, GridPoint helped the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, or SMUD, manage power from its customers’ rooftop solar panels. The Arlington, Va.-based company had landed a contract to help the Sacramento, Calif.-based municipal utility manage renewable power integration, energy storage and home energy management systems. SMUD had won $127.5 million in stimulus funds from the Department of Energy to carry out the project, which also includes deploying 600,000 smart meters in its service territory. Also, in early 2009, the Energy Department awarded Argonne National Laboratory nearly $2.7 million in stimulus funding for three solar-energy related research projects. In addition, Argonne reportedly shared another $5 million in stimulus funding for projects with GridPoint and other companies and the University of Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. Besides benefiting from stimulus grants, GridPoint last year won a $28 million contract with the United States Postal Service to install energy management systems in selected post office locations across the U.S. Glauthier, meanwhile, also had come under fire after Fox News reported the U.S. Navy has purchased 450,000 gallons of biofuel for about $16 a gallon, or about four times the price of its standard marine fuel, JP-5, which has been going for under $4 a gallon. And HotAir reported last week that Glauthier is a “strategic adviser” to Solazyme, the California company that is selling a portion of the biofuel to the Navy. HotAir noted Solazyme received a $21.8 million grant from the 2009 stimulus package. Also, writing at BigGovernment two weeks ago, Whitney Pitcher found that prior to serving as adviser to Solazyme and after his time as part of Obama’s transition team, Glauthier served on the advisory board of SunRun, a solar financing company. In October of 2010, just a few short months after Glauthier joined SunRun’s advisory board, SunRun secured a $6.73 million grant from a Treasury Department stimulus program. The company was the ninth largest recipient of such programs through December 2010.