By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
The Justice Department probe into the collapse of solar panel maker Solyndra LLC after the company received a half-billion dollars in federal loan guarantees has prompted requests by government lawyers investigating the company for closing documents and invoices, according to newly filed court records.
Bankrupt solar-panel company Solyndra LLC and the criminal investigation into its downfall have faded from public view, but the law firm representing the company in a grand jury probe quietly has stayed busy, racking up nearly a half-million dollars in legal fees over the past year, records show.
One month after the chief restructuring officer for failed solar panel maker Solyndra reported no wrongdoing by the company, documents show federal investigators have remained busy in recent months scouring the company's financial documents, internal emails and computers.
The federal government and private investors knew the risks they were taking when they poured money in Solyndra LLC, the California solar panel manufacturer that went bankrupt two years after winning more than a half-billion dollars in federal loan guarantees, according to the company's top official.
Bankrupt solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC is busy selling off assets, but who owns what's left over is hard to say.
Several of the nearly two dozen employees at bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra LLC who were approved for bonuses Wednesday had months earlier received pay raises as high as 70 percent, a fact the company never disclosed in its request for bonus cash.
Solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC defeated a proposed government takeover bid, but the attempt underscored the depth of concerns in recent weeks at the Justice Department about the roles played by the bankrupt company's top financial officer and its board of directors.
The chairman and CEO of a California solar energy company that sought bankruptcy protection after receiving a half-billion-dollar loan guarantee from the Obama administration has resigned.
R. Todd Neilson, the former FBI agent hired by Solyndra to review company's books, ultimately said he couldn't come up with any evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Mr. Neilson said the company's construction costs were correctly recorded and "no material funds were diverted from their original use."
