Reporting from Washington— A former Energy Department official linked to the failed Solyndra solar enterprise deal continues to raise campaign money for President Obama and helped plan a fundraising luncheon that the president will attend in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Steven Spinner, who remains in the top tier of Obama fundraisers, took part in a conference call in recent weeks devoted to planning the event at the W Hotel. He also has joined other Obama fundraising calls, according to a person familiar with Spinner’s participation who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.
An Obama campaign official said Sunday that Spinner did not raise funds for the San Francisco event but is an “active fundraiser for the campaign.” He declined to comment on whether Spinner took part in conference calls about the luncheon.
Spinner raised more than $500,000 for Obama in the last quarter alone — an increase from the previous quarter, during which he raised between $250,000 to $500,000 for Obama’s reelection campaign. Funneling taxpayer money to politically-connected investors is really paying off for the Obama Administration.
Spinner, who raised serious cash for Obama in 2008 and whose wife represented Solyndra in loan proceedings, promised not to get involved in the loan process. But emails reveal he was rather closely involved in the grant process. He even pushed the Department of Energy to fast-track the loan in time for a press event at which Joe Biden bragged about loaning the company money.
by Stephan Tawney on October 24, 2011