Memo argues Energy legally restructured $535M Solyndra loan
By Andrew Restuccia - 10/14/11 12:17 PM ET

A memo issued earlier this year makes the case that the Energy Department was within its legal rights to restructure the $535 million Solyndra loan guarantee in February as the California solar company faced financial collapse.

The memo became the focus of a hearing Friday of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative panel, when Democrats on the panel blasted Republicans for refusing to make the memo public. Lawmakers ultimately decided to enter the memo into the public record.

The six-page memo, authored by Energy Department Loan Programs Office Chief Counsel Susan Richardson, says it was legal to restructure the loan in February so that investors who provided additional funding to Solyndra would be repaid before the federal government if the company folded. The memo is dated Feb. 15, 2011.

Republicans have blasted the Energy Department for “subordinatingâ€