September 14, 2011

What Budget Analysts Told The White House About Solyndra

Complaints From Analysts Make It Clear That Obama White House Exerted Pressure To Approve $535 Million Loan For Now-Bankrupt Solyndra
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Obama White House Pressured Federal Reviewers About $535 Million Loan, Despite Concerns About Solyndras Viability
Obama White House Tried To Rush Federal Reviewers To Approve $535 Million Loan For Now Bankrupt Solar Panel Company Solyndra. The Obama White House tried to rush federal reviewers for a decision on a nearly half-billion-dollar loan to the solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra so Vice President Biden could announce the approval at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the companys factory, newly obtained e-mails show. (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, White House Pressed On $500 Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under Investigation,
The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

This Deal Is NOT Ready For Prime Time. This deal is NOT ready for prime time, one White House budget analyst wrote in a March 10, 2009 email, nine days before the administration formally announced the loan. (Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross, and Ronnie Greene, Emails: Obama White House Monitored Huge Loan To 'Connected' Firm, ABC News, 9/13/11) OMB Staffer Complained About Time Pressure We Are Under To Sign-Off On Solyndra. One e-mail from an OMB official referred to the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra. (Joe Stephens and Carol D.
Leonnig, White House Pressed On $500 Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under Investigation, The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

Another Complained, There Isnt Time To Negotiate. (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, White House Pressed On $500
Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under Investigation, The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

OMB Staffer Complained About Having To Do Rushed Approvals And That They Would Prefer To have Sufficient Time To Do Our Due Diligence Reviews. We have ended up with a situation of having to do rushed approvals on a couple of occasions (and we are worried about Solyndra at the end of the week), one official wrote. That Aug. 31, 2009, message, written by a senior OMB staffer and sent to Terrell P. McSweeny, Bidens domestic policy adviser, concluded, We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews. (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, White House Pressed On $500 Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under Investigation,
The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

OMB Staff Member Noted: Given The Time Pressure We Are Under To Sign-Off On Solyndra, We Dont Have Time To Change The Model. In one e-mail, an OMB staff member questioned whether the
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review team was using the best model for determining the financial risk to taxpayers in evaluating the Solyndra deal. Given the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra, we dont have time to change the model, the staffer wrote. (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, White House Pressed On $500 Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under
Investigation, The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

When Pressured By White House Chief Of Staff Office, OMB Staff Responded: I Would Prefer That This Announcement Be Postponed. ... This Is The First Loan Guarantee And We Should Have Full Review With All Hands On Deck To Make Sure We Get It Right. In one e-mail, an assistant to Rahm Emanuel, then White House chief of staff, wrote on Aug. 31, 2009, to OMB about the upcoming Biden announcement on Solyndra and asked whether there is anything we can help speed along on OMB side. An OMB staff member responded: I would prefer that this announcement be postponed. ... This is the first loan guarantee and we should have full review with all hands on deck to make sure we get it right. (Joe Stephens and
Carol D. Leonnig, White House Pressed On $500 Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under Investigation, The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

With Looming P.R. Event, Obama White House Repeatedly Asked Office Of Management And Budget Staffers How Soon They Could Decide On The Loan; OMB Expressed Concern That They Were Being Rushed To Approve The Loan Without Adequate Time To Assess The Risk To Taxpayers. The August 2009 e-mails, released to The Washington Post, show White House officials repeatedly asking OMB reviewers when they would be able to decide on the federal loan and noting a looming press event at which they planned to announce the deal. In response, OMB officials expressed concern that they were being rushed to approve the companys project without adequate time to assess the risk to taxpayers, according to information provided by Republican congressional investigators. (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, White House Pressed On
$500 Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under Investigation, The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

Obama White House Does Not Deny It Had A Quite Active Interest In Timing Of OMBs Decision. They [Obama White House] stressed that the e-mails show only that the administration had a quite active interest in the timing of OMBs decision. (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, White House Pressed On
$500 Million Loan To Solar Company Now Under Investigation, The Washington Post, 9/13/11)

Did Obama White House Ignore Solyndras Dubious Business Model For Political Reasons?
Reviewers Noted Major Outstanding Issue With Fact That Solyndra Would Run Out Of Cash By September 2011. In one exchange, an Energy official wrote of a major outstanding issue -- namely, that Solyndra's numbers showed it would run out of cash in September 2011. (Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross, and Ronnie Greene,
Emails: Obama White House Monitored Huge Loan To 'Connected' Firm, ABC News, 9/13/11)

Risk Rating For The Project Sponsor [Solyndra] Seems High. There was also concern about the high-risk nature of the project. Internally, the Office of Management and Budget wrote that the risk rating for the project sponsor [Solyndra] seems high. (Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross, and Ronnie Greene, Emails: Obama White House
Monitored Huge Loan To 'Connected' Firm, ABC News, 9/13/11)

Solar Energy Analyst On Solyndras Business Model: It's Very Difficult To Perceive A Company With A Model That Says, Well, I Can Build Something For Six Dollars And Sell It For Three Dollars. Peter Lynch, a New York-based solar energy analyst, told ABC News it took only a cursory glance through Solyndra's prospectus to see there was a problem with their numbers. It's very difficult to perceive a company with a model that says, well, I can build something for six dollars and sell it for three dollars, Lynch said. Those numbers don't generally work. You don't want to lose three dollars for every unit you make. (Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross, and Ronnie Greene, Emails: Obama White House Monitored Huge Loan To 'Connected' Firm, ABC News, 9/13/11)
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