Energy Department officials were warned that their plan to help a failing solar company by restructuring its $535 million federal loan could violate the law and should be cleared with the Justice Department, according to newly obtained e-mails from within the Obama administration. The e-mails show that Energy Department officials moved ahead anyway with a new deal that would repay company investors before taxpayers if the company defaulted. The e-mails, which were reviewed by The Washington Post, show for the first time concerns within the administration about the legality of the Energy Departmentâs extraordinary efforts to help Solyndra, the California solar company that went bankrupt Aug. 31. The records provided Friday by a government source also show that an Energy Department stimulus adviser, Steve Spinner, pushed for Solyndraâs loan despite having recused himself because his wifeâs law firm did work for the company. Spinner, who left the agency in September 2010, did not respond to requests for comment Friday. The documents offer new evidence of wide disagreement between officials at the Energy Department and officials at the Treasury Department and Office of Management and Budget, where questions were raised about the carefulness of the loan vetting process used to select Solyndra and the special help it was given as its finances deteriorated. Energy Department officials continued to make loan payments to the company even after it had defaulted on the terms of its loan..... http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...ergy-company/2011/10/07/gIQACDqSTL_print.html