Outgoing President Joe Biden's Justice Department moved on the night of the Nov. 5 election to virtually ensure the cover-up of a potentially massive green energy scandal, Breitbart News exclusively reports I found out.
The story goes back to the Obama administration as well as the Biden administration, and could jeopardize the future of broader green energy programs and leftist solar projects on federal land. At least one lawmaker has already formally asked the Justice Department for answers, and more are likely to get involved soon. This could have a major impact on the next administration's energy policy.
At 5:20 p.m. ET on November 5, with less than an hour until the first round of voting ended, exit polls revealed that Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris was likely to lose. , a Justice Department lawyer said. emailed attorneys for plaintiffs in the Quitum lawsuit, which aims to recover large losses allegedly incurred by taxpayers as a result of a failed solar farm in Nevada. A quitum lawsuit is a lawsuit filed by a private plaintiff on behalf of the U.S. government to recover taxpayer funds. They often allege fraud, abuse, or theft of taxpayer funds.
The email from the Justice Department described what the plaintiffs began hearing as the election approached and it became clear that the Harris campaign was in trouble. The email said it was intended to dismiss the case, which the Justice Department had previously allowed to proceed, thereby undermining private efforts to recover significant losses for U.S. taxpayers. .
“The United States intends to intervene in this case for the purpose of dismissing the qui tam claims under 31 USC 3730(c)(2)(A),” said Anthony Gill, trial attorney in the Fraud Division, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice. said. sent an email to the attorney for CMB Export, LLC, the EB-5 visa company that filed the Quitam lawsuit in question. “The United States has determined that the termination was in the public interest and that this matter does not merit the continued expenditure of government resources. Anticipated discovery in connection with the continued litigation of this case. The obligations and litigation obligations would place an undue burden on the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Justice.”
“I intend to file a motion this week,” Gill added in an email obtained by Breitbart News. “While we cannot add anything further to the U.S. decision to seek dismissal under 3730(c)(2)(A), please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.”
This decision was a shock to the plaintiffs. That's because it represents a major reversal of the position previously taken by the very same Biden Justice Department. The Justice Department had previously refused to intervene in the Qui Tam case, according to a June 1, 2023 filing, after years of mysterious delays — before the Justice Department finally reached this point. It took years — and the case was finally unsealed in January. 24, 2024 — 11 months ago — after a battle on that front in court. In layman's terms, the Department of Justice's formal refusal to intervene in the Qui Tam case, and subsequent unsealing of the case by the court, means that the Qui Tam plaintiffs can proceed with their lawsuit against the defendants. .
The story dates back to the Obama administration, when leftists and environmentalists accelerated a frenzied push toward so-called renewable energy sources. The federal government under the Obama administration backed what was called the Crescent Dunes solar energy project with a $737 million guaranteed loan. The factory was a billion dollar project.
Ostensibly, what Crescent Dunes was building was a 1,600-acre factory in the Nevada desert that would use mirrors to capture sunlight and heat molten salt in giant towers to generate energy. It was designed to. “The plant would use more than 10,000 mirrors to heat molten salt in a 640-foot-tall tower to produce clean energy.” las vegas review journal I wrote We discussed the project's failure in a 2020 editorial. “Superheated salt boils water, creating steam and generating electricity. What made this effort even more exciting was that it was thought that salt could store heat and generate electricity after sunset. That’s it.”
Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, had long talked about turning the Silver State into the “Saudi Arabia of geothermal and solar energy.” This was perfect. Mr. Reed has since retired and passed away, but the Las Vegas airport now bears his name. Although he is deceased, sources familiar with the details of the case say the cost to U.S. taxpayers could still be more than $200 million, and more than $700 million depending on factors such as depreciation and loan guarantees. It is said that the information has not been disclosed.
The factory went bankrupt in 2020 after failing to return profits for years, but as of 2021 it is reportedly operating again under a somewhat different ownership structure, according to local news reports from 8NewsNow in Nevada. It is being The talk also detailed some of the technology issues.
“In addition to struggling to make a profit, the factory was also criticized because birds were dying from the extreme heat generated by the panels. There were also reports of birds exploding into flames mid-flight. Yes,” 8NewsNow reported. report Articles from 2021 from Las Vegas television stations. “Another issue related to reports of workers being hospitalized after exposure to nitrogen dioxide released from hot salt tanks.”
These and other significant issues with the Crescent Dunes plant's technology and operations significantly delayed its ramp-up and even shut down the plant for a year, making it difficult to justify cash grants, guaranteed financing, and depreciation. The legitimacy of the US taxpayer is being questioned. It has essentially been drained of cash and is now in debt.
That is the purpose of redressing the Qui Tam lawsuit, and that is where CMB Export, LLC comes into play. CMB's concern, as an EB-5 visa company, is losing tens of millions of dollars on failed projects. So they began investigating what happened, uncovering serious concerns about how the Obama administration awarded these subsidies and other taxpayer-funded benefits that are the basis of the Qui Tam lawsuit. did. The Biden Justice Department delayed processing the case for years, but ultimately approved it to move forward procedurally. All was going well until just before the election, when the CMB began hearing that the Biden Justice Department might withdraw its support for the case, days after President Trump's victory over Harris.
The reversal was formally communicated in an election night email from a Justice Department official and filed in court the next day seeking dismissal of the Qui Tam lawsuit. The timing begs the question why the Biden Justice Department would apparently seek to cover up this case before Donald Trump wins the presidential election and Republicans control both houses of Congress.
Congress is increasingly interested in getting answers from the Justice Department.
Rep. Carol Miller (R-West Virginia) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday demanding answers about the election night reversal.
“I am pleased with the Department of Justice’s recent decision to intervene and dismiss the qui tam lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act by CMB Export, LLC against Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC, Cobra Energy Investment, and other related parties. I am writing to express my concerns regarding the decision,” Miller wrote to Garland, a copy of which was obtained by Breitbart News. “This lawsuit centers on allegations of serious fraud and misrepresentation regarding the Crescent Dunes project, and concerns the use of taxpayer funds and the federal government's efforts to hold parties accountable for alleged wrongdoing. The timing of the department's decision to dismiss the case is particularly troubling. After a three-and-a-half year investigation in which the case was sealed, the department chose to authorize the prosecution of CMB Exports in August 2023, but in November 2024, just one day after the presidential election. On the 6th, the department reversed course and intervened to dismiss the case, with no clear justification other than vague references to “public interest'' and “expenditure of government resources.''
Breitbart News reached out to Congressman Miller for exclusive comment.
On November 5th, Americans rejected the Biden administration's radical Green New Deal and voted for affordable energy. If this project does not live up to its promises, the Department of Justice needs to thoroughly investigate it. There must be accountability and transparency for all taxes spent by the government. I look forward to hearing from AG Garland.
Breitbart News has also learned that other members of Congress have been informed of the matter.
This will have a major impact on the next Trump administration. Of course, this issue cuts across several federal departments, from the Department of Justice to the Departments of the Interior, Energy, and Treasury. With the Justice Department at the center of things, incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi will be in a position to evaluate the issue and make decisions about how to proceed. Incoming Energy Secretary Chris Wright and incoming Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will also need to consider solar and other green energy policies. For example, earlier this year, the Biden administration's Interior Department announced a push to expand solar energy projects like Crescent Dunes on federal lands.
“Federal Bureau of Land Management officials announced on August 29 that they have finalized plans to add Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming to the existing Western Solar Plan. ” by Alex Baumhardt of the Oregon Capital Chronicle. I wrote In September. “When it was first implemented in 2012, it only included Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.”
This expansion includes millions of acres of federal land across the major states of these wide-open Western states, and it will be important to see how Secretary Burgum and Wright handle all of this. .
As for the Treasury Department, incoming Secretary Scott Bessent, who was just announced last week as President Trump's pick to lead the important Treasury Department, said the Treasury Department lied to the Energy Department about cash subsidies during the Obama administration. You'll need to decide whether you're tired or not.
The newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, will also have an impact on bloated bureaucracy and wasting taxpayer funds on projects such as Crescent Dunes. There is a possibility that it will happen.
Trump himself, of course, has promised to revitalize America's energy and regularly criticizes such green-left projects.
