Rahm Emanuel may need to jog his memory when it comes to his involvement with the solar power firm Solyndra as President Obama's Chief of Staff.
On Friday, the news site Daily Beast received memos that had been turned over by the White House to Congressional investigators about the energy firm's scandal. The emails indicated that Emanuel may have urged Vice President Joe Biden to hold an event touting Solyndra in connection with the Energy Department's $535 million loan to the now-bankrupt solar firm.
An e-mail from a White House official indicates Emanuel talked to Ron Klain, Biden's chief of staff, to plan an event in summer 2009, despite concerns raised by White House environmental adviser Heather Zichal about Solyndra's finances.
"[Klain] has talked to Rahm about this and feels Rahm wants this too (barring any concerns)--POTUS's involvement was Rahm's idea," wrote Aditya Kumar, a White House director of special projects, in an e-mail to other officials in August 2009.
In September, Emanuel denied any knowledge of the Solyndra loan to WLS Radio's Bill Cameron.
"I don't actually remember that or know about it," Emanuel said.
But e-mails from White House officials dumped in October revealed that Emanuel may have been the one eager to spotlight Solyndra in early 2009, despite concerns that the California company could be financially unstable.
