Emails raise fresh questions on Obama energy loan (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An Obama administration appointee at the Energy Department pressed White House analysts to sign off on a $535 million loan to Solyndra even though his wife worked for the failed solar panel maker's law firm, according to internal emails made public on Friday.

The revelation adds new drama to a political battle over the administration's backing for Solyndra, which has filed for bankruptcy and has been raided by the FBI. The newly disclosed emails reveal "a disturbingly close relationship" between the White House, campaign donors and wealthy investors relating to Solyndra, a senior congressional Republican said.

The emails show frequent inquiries from Steven Spinner, who was an adviser to the Energy Department on its use of economic stimulus funding to spur clean energy technology, on the Solyndra loan, according to a report in the New York Times.

On September 29, the Energy Department had posted a "fact check" on Spinner's involvement in the Solyndra case on its website, explaining that he started his job after the company received conditional approval for its loan application.

The department said Spinner "was recused from engaging in any discussions on decisions affecting specific loan applications in which his spouse's law firm was involved out of concern for the appearance of a conflict of interest."

Allison Spinner is a partner at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, which represented Solyndra.

Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera said on Friday that the department's ethics officer had cleared Spinner to "oversee and monitor the progress of applications," although he was not allowed to make decisions on loans or their terms.

LaVera added that Allison Spinner had "agreed not to participate in or receive any financial compensation from her law firm's work on behalf of any loan program applicant."

Allison Spinner did not work on the Solyndra matter and the firm created an "ethical wall" between her and any of its work on Energy Department issues while her husband worked for the government, according to Courtney Dorman, a spokeswoman for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati said.

While Steve Spinner was at the department, Allison Spinner had agreed to not work on Energy Department issues for clients, and the firm did not discuss or disclose related issues or documents with her, Dorman said.

Steven and Allison Spinner did not respond to requests for comment.

'BREATHING DOWN MY NECK'

The White House, which has aggressively defended decisions made on the loan guarantee, turned over the emails on Friday to the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, which has been probing the loan for the past eight months.

"The paper trail released by the White House portrays a disturbingly close relationship between President Obama's West Wing inner circle, campaign donors, and wealthy investors that spawned the Solyndra mess," Representatives Fred Upton, the panel's chairman, and Cliff Stearns, the head of the investigation, said in a statement.

The emails show Spinner discussed the pending final decision often with Solyndra officials, Energy Department colleagues, and the White House budget office, the New York Times said.

"I have the O.V.P. and W.H. breathing down my neck on this," Spinner wrote, referring to the office of the vice president and the White House in an email to an Energy Department loan officer.

Spinner, who advises clean tech companies in San Francisco, was an Obama fundraiser during the 2008 presidential campaign, the newspaper said.

Other emails showed top Treasury Department officials were alarmed about an Energy Department decision to restructure the company's debt earlier this year, when it ran out of cash.

The plan allowed some $75 million in private investment to be ranked ahead of the government in the event of bankruptcy. That private fund was backed by a prominent Obama fundraiser, George Kaiser.

IN THE DARK

Mary Miller, Treasury's assistant secretary for financial markets, emailed the White House budget director two weeks before Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, complaining the Energy Department had kept Treasury in the dark.

The loan was provided by Treasury's Federal Financing Bank but was guaranteed and monitored by the Energy Department.

Treasury Department lawyers did not think the law allowed for the government loan to be subordinated, Miller said in an August 17 email to Jeffrey Zients, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

"In February, we requested in writing that DOE seek the Department of Justice's approval of any proposed restructuring. To our knowledge, that has never happened,'" Miller said in the email, excerpts of which were provided by House Republicans.

She also complained that "DOE has not responded to any requests for information about Solyndra" despite requests dating to July 2010.

But emails provided by the administration showed that top staff at the Energy Department discussed the concerns with the chief financial officer of Treasury's Federal Financing Bank.

"Ultimately, DOE's determination that the restructuring was legal was made by career lawyers in the loan program based on a careful analysis of the statute," an Energy Department spokesman said.

A Treasury spokesman declined to elaborate on the contents of Miller's email.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has now requested Treasury turn over all documents related to the Solyndra loan guarantee.

The panel has collected tens of thousands of pages of documents from the Energy Department and White House, and has requested information from two private investors in Solyndra.

The committee has also asked the Energy Department for information on 27 other guarantees backing about $16 billion in loans. The panel is slated to hold another hearing on its findings next Friday, October 14.

(Editing by Will Dunham)

View the original article here

Reno crash raises questions about the future of air races (The Christian Science Monitor)

[UPDATE: The number of people killed in the Reno Air Races crash Friday has risen to nine, according to the Reno police. Also, a T-28 aircraft crashed on the runway during a six-aircraft routine Saturday at an airshow in Martinsburg, West Virginia, killing the pilot. There were no other casualties, according to initial reports.]

The crash at the Reno Air Races in Nevada Friday afternoon – the worst accident in the history of the event – raises questions about the future of what’s billed as “the world’s fastest motorsport.”

Have the capabilities of the high-speed aircraft flown at very low level exceeded the abilities of even the best pilots? Should age be a consideration in allowing pilots to compete? Should the race course be moved farther away from the tens of thousands of spectators who gather there each September.

Sometimes likened to the top race cars as “Formula One with wings,” racing aircraft fly at up to 500 miles an hour and less than 100 feet above the ground. The fastest categories fly an 8-mile oval course around pylons.

The Monitor's weekly news quiz for Sept. 11-16, 2011

Many of the competing aircraft started out as vintage World War II fighters, such as the P-51 Mustang and the F8F Bearcat. But they are highly modified, with larger engines and aerodynamic characteristics that have been altered to increase performance during high-G turns that can stress airframes.

Jimmy Leeward, the pilot in the crash, was flying a P-51 named the "Galloping Ghost."

Mr. Leeward, a real estate developer and owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team in Ocala, Fla., was a veteran pilot who’d flown 250 types of aircraft. He was a long-time racer who’d flown at Reno since 1975, and he’d flown as a stunt pilot in such films as "Amelia," Cloud Dancer," and "The Tuskegee Airmen."

In an interview with the Ocala Star-Banner last year, Leeward talked about the P-51 – the aircraft flown in combat in World War II by famed pilot Chuck Yeager, who once shot down five enemy aircraft on a single mission.

"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge,” Leeward said of the P-51. “Speed, speed and more speed.”

Initial reports indicated that the pilot had pulled up and called a€?maydaya€

At this writing, three people (including the pilot) have died as a result of the crash and 56 were taken to local hospitals, many of them critically injured.

But given the total destruction of the aircraft, former NTSB investigator Greg Feith told MSNBC, the exact cause of the accident – perhaps a mechanical failure or a medical situation experienced by the pilot – may never be known.

Some have raised questions about Leeward’s age, initially reported as 80 but then corrected to 74. Those who knew him well reject the suggestion that he was too old to participate in such a stressful and potentially dangerous sport requiring physical strength, extraordinary reflexes, and the ability to react instantly to emergency situations including engine failure at low level.

Leeward's aviation medical records were up-to-date, and he was "a very qualified, very experienced pilot," said Reno Air Races President and CEO Mike Houghton.

Some witnesses to the crash suggested that Leeward may have maneuvered his aircraft away from the grandstands where the casualties could have been higher.

Four pilots have been killed in recent years. Over the years, there have been 19 deaths due to crashes and collisions at Reno, but none until this week had involved spectators.

Two pilots died at the event in 1994, and organizers softened two of the curves pilots negotiate after two more pilots crashed into nearby neighborhoods in 1998 and 1999, according to an Associated Press report. In 2007 and 2008, four pilots were killed at the races, prompting local school officials to consider barring student field trips to the event.

Air shows not involving races also have a long record of accidents involving pilots and spectators. There have been eight so far this year, five involving fatalities. The worst was in 2002 when a Ukrainian Air Force fighter crashed during an air show near Lviv, Ukraine, killing 77 people and injuring 543.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials have taken over the investigation in Reno. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is involved as well.

The Monitor's weekly news quiz for Sept. 11-16, 2011

View the original article here

Montana questions Exxon's estimate of oil spilled (AP)

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana environmental regulators have asked Exxon Mobil to justify its estimate for how much oil spilled into the Yellowstone River, citing the company's changing timeline on how long it took to stop a leaking pipeline.

The Texas-based company estimates between 31,500 and 42,000 gallons of crude flowed into the Yellowstone near Laurel on July 1, fouling the shoreline and backwaters along dozens of miles of the scenic river.

Exxon Mobil Pipeline president Gary Pruessing initially said it took six minutes to shut down the pumps, but information submitted by the company to federal pipeline safety regulators later revealed it took almost an hour to fully stop the flow.

In a letter to Exxon Mobil executives, Montana Department of Environmental Quality Director Richard Opper asked for an explanation of why the spill volume was not changed given the longer timeline.

"Since the event occurred, ExxonMobil has increased its estimate of the duration of the spill event 10-fold from its original assertion," Opper wrote. "Despite this revision as to the duration of the event, ExxonMobil has not revised its estimate as to the volume of the spill into the river."

Exxon Mobil representatives said last week the spill estimate was based on the correct timeline. Spokeswoman Cynthis Bergman said Tuesday the company believes its prior estimate was correct.

The estimate included oil lost after the pumps were shut down but before a series of valves were closed to fully seal off the section of failed pipeline, she said.

Opper also requested information from the company concerning the pipeline's pressure and flow rate beginning 48 hours before the spill through Monday. Exxon Mobil was asked to provide an answer by next Monday.

Because much of the oil was swept away by the river, only 1 to 5 percent of the oil is expected to be recovered.

View the original article here

More questions raised about Strauss-Kahn accuser (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Scrutiny of the accuser in the sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn intensified on Saturday after more revelations about her conduct following the purported May 14 attack.

A judge released Strauss-Kahn from house arrest and lifted strict bail conditions on Friday after prosecutors discovered a pattern of lying in the accuser's background, although serious charges including sexual assault and attempted rape remain in place against the man once seen a top French presidential contender.

A new report says the 32-year-old woman, a hotel maid, spoke of the possibility of financial gain from the incident.

In a phone conversation with her boyfriend, who was held in an Arizona jail on suspicion of possessing 400 pounds (180 kg) of marijuana, she said there was money to be made from Strauss-Kahn, a law-enforcement source familiar with the investigation told Reuters on Saturday.

The call was recorded and the woman told her boyfriend she was fine and not to worry about her, the source said.

The New York Times quoted a well-placed law enforcement official as saying: "She says words to the effect of, 'Don't worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I'm doing.'"

On Friday, prosecutors said the accuser lied about being gang-raped in Guinea as part of an application for U.S. asylum and changed details of her story about what she did after the incident in Straus-Kahn's luxury hotel suite.

As the woman's stature falls, that of Strauss-Kahn has rebounded. Some in France are talking about a political comeback, although perhaps not to challenge President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012.

Strauss-Kahn's whereabouts on Saturday were unknown. He left his Manhattan townhouse and got into a black sedan, followed by a flock of photographers in vehicles and on motorbikes. His car then pulled into a garage with restricted access and he disappeared, thwarting attempts to follow him further.

Revelations about the accuser have left prosecutors struggling to make a case with a central witness whose credibility would be targeted by Strauss-Kahn's defense lawyers.

Investigators once trumpeted the woman as a devout Muslim who immediately reported that Strauss-Kahn, a steward of the world economy from the French elite, sprang naked from the bathroom and forced her to perform oral sex.

Her lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, came to her defense on Friday, portraying her as a frightened, illiterate woman who remained a victim, her body badly bruised in the encounter.

"The victim here may have made some mistakes but that doesn't mean she's not a rape victim," Thompson said.

(Additional reporting by Allison Joyce in New York and Leila Abboud in Paris; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott)

View the original article here