(Reuters) - A top Treasury Department official complained the Energy Department kept Treasury in the dark about the precarious financial situation of Solyndra, a failed solar panel maker that had received government backing.
Mary Miller, Treasury's assistant secretary for financial markets, emailed the White House budget director in August with her concerns only two weeks before Solyndra filed for bankruptcy and was raided by the FBI, according to excerpts released on Friday by Republicans investigating the failed company.
The investigation into Solyndra has become a political headache for the Obama administration, which has staunchly defended decisions made on the $535 million loan guarantee under a program designed to spur clean energy technology.
When the company ran out of cash, the Energy Department agreed in February to a plan to restructure its debt. In that restructuring, some $75 million in private investment was ranked ahead of the government in the event of bankruptcy. That private fund was backed by a prominent Obama fundraiser.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/08/us-solyndra-idUSTRE79700020111008