Abound Solar, given a $400 million Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee for a project expected to create 400 permanent jobs, receives private financial backing through an investment firm founded by a fundraising bundler for President Obama. The Sunlight Foundation notes that Bohemian Companies, which was founded by billionaire and Obama bundler Pat Stryker, participated with other companies in the "second institutional equity round of financing" in 2008 for Abound Solar, which recieved $104 million total through that round of financing.
Stryker gave $50,000 to Obama's inauguration, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and raised a further $87,000 for the inauguration. Stryker has since donated $35,800 to the 2012 Obama Victory Fund, Sunlight reports.
One year after Bohemian invested in Abound, and a year before the DOE granted a loan guarantee, Stryker visited the White House. "The White House did not confirm that the visitor was the Pat Stryker in question and did not provide details about the meeting," Sunlight says.
When the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked about meetings with George Kaiser (an Obama bundler and financer for Solyndra,which also received a DOE loan guarantee), he indicated that no discussions of the loan program ever took place.
Recently-released emails from Kaiser show that he did discuss Solyndra with White House officials, despite earlier denials.
You can read more about Abound Solar here.
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