◼ President Obama said Friday the decision to give millions in taxpayer money to a now bankrupt solar company in Colorado “was made by the Department of Energy,” and had “nothing to do with politics.”
But e-mails published by Colorado reporter Todd Shepherd reveal Department of Energy officials pushing the loan to Abound Solar based on pressure from the White House. Complete Colorado has the full e-mail exchanges...
Abound Solar, which counts major Obama bundler Pat Stryker among its early backers, is now under criminal investigation for misleading investors. It went bankrupt in mid-2012, leaving employees out of work and taxpayers with the bill. The company had gone through $70 million of a federal loan guarantee worth $400 million. It was supposed to create 1,500 permanent jobs, according to the president’s 2010 announcement of the loan.
Upon its closing in June, Rep. Darrell Issa, the head of the House Oversight Committee, suggested Abound’s weak financials at the time of its loan suggested political motivations over taxpayer protection...
