Barack Obama’s Transparency You Can’t Believe In

Obama Administration Less-Than-Transparent on Lobbyist Bundlers, Solyndra and Fast and Furious

• President Obama once claimed that transparency would be a touchstone of his presidency, and pledged to not take campaign cash from lobbyists. However, many of Obama’s top campaign bundlers are lobbyists and his staff has taken steps to hide their meetings with lobbyists rather than be transparent.
• Obama’s White House staff also continues to refuse to release documents pertaining to internal deliberations surrounding the Solyndra scandal, rather than be open and honest with the American people.
• Attorney General Eric Holder has also done his part to dodge important questions about the Fast and Furious operation in which taxpayer dollars were used to buy guns for Mexican drug cartels. Holder first denied knowing about the program until “a few weeks” before his testimony in May 2011, but the paper trail suggests otherwise. Is this the transparency Democrats told us we could “believe in”?

BACKGROUND 

President Obama once claimed that transparency would be a touchstone of his presidency, and pledged to not take campaign cash from lobbyists. However, many of Obama’s top campaign bundlers are lobbyists and his staff has taken steps to hide their meetings with lobbyists rather than be transparent:

OBAMA ON JAN. 21, 2009: “TRANSPARENCY AND THE RULE OF LAW WILL BE TOUCHSTONES OF THIS PRESIDENCY.” (“Remarks by the President in Welcoming Senior Staff and Cabinet Secretaries to the White House,” The White House, 1/21/2009) 

MORE: “Information will not be withheld just because I say so. It will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well grounded in the Constitution.” (“Remarks by the President in Welcoming Senior Staff and Cabinet Secretaries to the White House,” The White House, 1/21/2009)

DESPITE PLEDGE NOT TO TAKE MONEY FROM LOBBYISTS, OBAMA HAS “RELIED ON” SUPPORTERS IN LOBBYING INDUSTRY TO RAISE CAMPAIGN CASH: “Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Obama has relied on prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions of dollars for his re-election bid.” (Eric Lichtblau, “Obama Backers Tied to Lobbies Raise Millions,” The New York Times, 10/27/2011)

AT LEAST 15 OBAMA BUNDLER-LOBBYISTS HAVE RAISED $5 MILLION FOR HIS RE-ELECT: “At least 15 of Mr. Obama’s ‘bundlers’ — supporters who contribute their own money to his campaign and solicit it from others — are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies. They have raised more than $5 million so far for the campaign.” (Eric Lichtblau, “Obama Backers Tied to Lobbies Raise Millions,” The New York Times, 10/27/2011) 

OBAMA BUNDLERS “ARE IN MANY WAYS INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM” REGISTERED LOBBYISTS: “But registered or not,  the bundlers are in many ways indistinguishable from people who fit the technical definition of a lobbyist. They glide easily through the corridors of power in Washington, with a number of them hosting Mr. Obama at fund-raisers while also visiting the White House on policy matters and official business.” (Eric Lichtblau, “Obama Backers Tied to Lobbies Raise Millions,” The New York Times, 10/27/2011)

FLASHBACK: WHITE HOUSE ENTERTAINING LOBBYISTS OFF-SITE AT CARIBOU COFFEE TO KEEP THEM OFF THE VISITOR LOG: “Here at the Caribou on Pennsylvania Avenue, and a few other nearby coffee shops, White House officials have met hundreds of times over the last 18 months with prominent K Street lobbyists — members of the same industry that President Obama has derided for what he calls its ‘outsized influence’ in the capital.

“On the agenda over espressos and lattes, according to more than a dozen lobbyists and political operatives who have taken part in the sessions, have been front-burner issues like Wall Street regulation, health care rules, federal stimulus money, energy policy and climate control — and their impact on the lobbyists’ corporate clients.” (Eric Lichtblau, “Across from the White House, Coffee With Lobbyists,” The New York Times, 6/24/2010)

Obama’s White House staff also continues to refuse to release documents pertaining to internal deliberations surrounding the Solyndra scandal, rather than be open and honest with the American people:

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION REJECTS HOUSE SUBPOENA FOR SOLYNDRA DOCUMENTS: “The White House on Friday all but refused to turn over the documents House Republicans have subpoenaed on bankrupt solar firm Solyndra, firing off a letter saying the request would put an ‘unreasonable burden on the president’s ability to meet his constitutional duties.’” (“Obama Fights Solyndra Subpoena,” Fox Nation, 11/7/2011) 

WHITE HOUSE WON’T RELEASE COMMUNICATIONS FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA, TOP OFFICIALS ON SOLYNDRA LOAN: “The White House will not comply with requests to turn over documents related to the bankrupt solar company Solyndra, which received a $535 million loan guarantee from the federal government, CNN learned Friday.” (Jessica Yellin, “FIRST ON CNN: Source: White House Will Not Turn Over All Solyndra Documents,” CNN, 10/14/2011) 

DESPITE EARLIER REPORTS THAT OBAMA AND RAHM EMANUEL PERSONALLY PRESSURED FOR SOLYNDRA ROLE: “White House staff discussed in emails that either President Obama or his former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel were eager to help spotlight a solar company in early 2009, despite numerous internal warnings that the company could be financially unstable, according to new e-mails. …

“ ‘Ron said this morning that the POTUS definitely wants to do this (or Rahm definitely wants the POTUS to do this ?),’ one White House staffer told an Obama scheduler on Aug. 17, 2009.” (Carol Leonnig, “Solyndra: Obama and Rahm Emanuel Pushed to Spotlight Energy Company,” The Washington Post, 10/7/2011) 

“FORMER SOLYNDRA CEO GOT $467K SEVERANCE”: (Randall Chase, “Former Solyndra CEO Gets $456K Severance,” Associated Press, 11/2/2011) 

FISHY: SOLYNDRA CEO NEGOTIATED SEVERANCE TWO MONTHS BEFORE SOLYNDRA ANNOUNCED HIS FIRING: (Randall Chase, “Former Solyndra CEO Gets $456K Severance,” Associated Press, 11/2/2011) 

MORE THAN A DOZEN OTHER SOLYNDRA EXECUTIVES RECEIVED “HEFTY BONUSES” THIS SUMMER, JUST MONTHS BEFORE FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY:“Senior executives at Solyndra collected hefty bonuses — ranging from $37,000 to $60,000 apiece — as the Fremont company bled cash and careened toward bankruptcy this summer. Bankruptcy documents filed in Delaware earlier this week reveal that more than a dozen senior executives at the defunct solar-manufacturing company were awarded sizable quarterly bonuses on April 15 and again on July 8. Solyndra ceased operations in late August and filed for bankruptcy Sept. 6. About 1,100 employees were laid off without severance pay.” (Dana Hull, “Solyndra Executives Collected Hefty Bonuses in Months Before Fremont Company Filed for Bankruptcy,” San Jose Mercury News, 11/2/2011) 

OBAMA ADMIN CONSIDERED A TAXPAYER BAILOUT FOR SOLYNDRA: “Days before a solar panel maker collapsed, the Obama administration considered a bailout that would have provided an infusion of cash and a new board of directors, including two directors appointed by the Energy Department.” (Matthew Daly, “Obama Admin Considered Bailout for Solyndra,” Associated Press, 11/2/2011) 

BUY LOW, SELL LOWER? BAILOUT PLAN WOULD HAVE CONVERTED SOLYNDRA DEBT TO TAXPAYERS INTO 40 PERCENT STAKE IN THE FAILING COMPANY: “A last-ditch plan considered by the Energy Department to save Solyndra LLC would have converted U.S. debt to equity of as much as 40 percent in the California solar- panel maker, according to Obama administration e-mails.” (Jim Snyder, “Rejected Solyndra Refinancing Called for U.S. Debt to Equity,” Bloomberg, 11/2/2011) 

WHITE HOUSE STILL RELYING ON SOLYNDRA-AFFILIATED BUNDLER TO RAISE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FOR OBAMA RE-ELECT: “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.” (Tom Hamburger and Peter Nicholas, “Solyndra-linked Fundraiser Still Boosting Obama Campaign,” Los Angeles Times, 10/24/2011)

Attorney General Eric Holder has also done his part to dodge important questions about the Fast and Furious operation in which taxpayer dollars were used to buy guns for Mexican drug cartels. Holder first denied knowing about the program until “a few weeks” before his testimony in May 2011, but the paper trail suggests otherwise. Is this the transparency Democrats told us we could “believe in”?:

TOP DOJ OFFICIAL ADMITTED HE KNEW ABOUT GUN-RUNNING OPERATION AS EARLY AS APRIL 2010: “A top Justice Department official knew that federal officials allowed assault guns and other weapons to fall into the possession of Mexican drug cartels as early as April 2010, 10 months before the department denied to Congressional investigators that the investigative strategy was used.” (Jonathan Strong, “Top Justice Official Expresses ‘Regret’ at ‘Gun Walking’ Omission,” Roll Call, 10/31/2011)

HOLDER’S LATEST EVASION: “I CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF EVERY OPERATION”: “But I cannot be expected to know the details of every operation that is ongoing in the Justice Department on a day-to-day basis. I did not know about ‘Fast and Furious,’ as indicated in the chart you have up there, until I guess – well, until it became public.” (Remarks from Attorney General Eric Holder, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Testimony, 11/8/2011)

HOLDER SAID IN MAY 2011 THAT HE JUST RECENTLY HEARD ABOUT “FAST AND FURIOUS”: “On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, ‘I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.’ ” (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News, 10/3/2011) 

HOWEVER, NEWLY RELEASED DOCUMENTS DIRECTLY CONTRADICT HOLDER’S TESTIMONY, REVEAL HE KNEW ABOUT FAST AND FURIOUS AS FAR BACK AS JULY 2010: “New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.” (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News, 10/3/2011) 

AND EVEN PRESIDENT OBAMA SAID HOLDER KNEW ABOUT FAST AND FURIOUS IN MARCH 2011: “He [Attorney General Holder] has been very clear, our policy is to catch gunrunners and put them into jail. So what he’s done is he’s assigned an I.G., an Inspector General to investigate what exactly happened here.” (“Obama On ‘Gunwalking’ – ‘Serious Mistakes’ May Have Been Made,” CBS News, 3/23/2011)