Attorney General Merrick Garland finds himself in the congressional crosshairs as Republicans on Capitol Hill intensify investigations into his Department of Justice’s alleged coverup of a solar energy scandal centered around a plant based in Nevada called Crescent Dunes.
“I am writing to express my concerns and seek clarification regarding the recent motion filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on November 6, 2024, to intervene and dismiss the False Claims Act (qui tam) lawsuit filed by CMB Export, LLC, against Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC, and its affiliates,” Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) wrote in a letter Tuesday to Garland. “This action raises significant questions about the decision-making process and rationale behind the DOJ’s intervention, particularly in light of the timeline and the lack of any clear justification for dismissing this case.”
Gooden’s inquiry, the second member of Congress to weigh in on this burgeoning scandal, was obtained exclusively by Breitbart News ahead of its public release. Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV) has already weighed in on the matter in previous reports and inquiries, so this represents an expansion of congressional interest in the case.
It comes after an exclusive Breitbart News investigation published in late November that revealed that in the immediate aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump—the former president of the United States—completing the greatest political comeback in the history of mankind when he defeated Democrat candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election, the Justice Department moved the next day to withdraw support for a privately-funded lawsuit that aimed to recoup hundreds of millions of allegedly fraudulently obtained tax dollars from the Crescent Dunes solar project.
As Breitbart News reported at the time, an email sent less than an hour before the polls closed in the first states on election night on Nov. 5 showed the Justice Department changing course on this matter and withdrew support for a qui tam lawsuit it previously had green-lit. Then the next day in court Garland’s DOJ formally filed a motion to withdraw support for the suit brought by an EB-5 visa company that alleges it was screwed out of tens of millions of dollars as part of the larger Crescent Dunes boondoggle.
A qui tam lawsuit is when a private entity seeks to fund litigation to recoup alleged fraud on behalf of the taxpayers, and while it costs nothing to taxpayers to bring one, the DOJ has to signal approval for it to move forward. After years of dragging its feet on this, the Biden DOJ finally did just that midway through 2023, and by early 2024 the litigation was proceeding until this shocking reversal on election night.
The incoming Trump administration has made clear that the president-elect will be very focused on energy policy, and particularly on stopping questionable leftist so-called “renewable” energy boondoggles like wind and solar energy. This flies in the face of the policies of the outgoing president, Democrat Joe Biden, whose administration expanded Barack Obama-era efforts to use federal lands to push green energy projects like Crescent Dunes.
Crescent Dunes goes back to that Obama era, where it got its start, and purportedly uses a bunch of mirrors in the desert to reflect sunlight to heat molten salt in a giant tower. The problem with this plant, which went bankrupt and then eventually opened under new ownership but still only produces a fraction of the energy originally promised, is the technology has proven to be particularly faulty. In addition to wildlife concerns as birds have reportedly even caught fire mid-flight after getting caught in the reflected sunlight, there have been reports of workers being hospitalized after exposure to poisonous gases emitted from the tank.
In his letter, Gooden made clear to Garland that he sees this as even bigger than just the Crescent Dunes project but something that possibly affects all green energy-focused items from the left.
“The allegations in this case represent not just potential financial fraud but a breach of the public trust,” Gooden wrote. “The Crescent Dunes project, like other failed ‘green energy’ initiatives, has already cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, and the dismissal of this case raises serious concerns about the Department’s commitment to protecting public funds and prosecuting fraud.”
At issue with the lawsuit in question are hundreds of millions of dollars in Treasury Department grants issued at the very end of the Obama administration to Crescent Dunes, and whether those grants were fraudulent, as the plaintiffs of the qui tam suit allege.
“As you know, this qui tam lawsuit alleges serious fraud involving approximately $275 million in cash grants from the Department of Treasury under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” Gooden wrote to Garland. “Despite investing three and a half years in investigating this case, it is deeply troubling that the Department of Justice reversed its position shortly after the presidential election, claiming dismissal is in the public interest and citing undue burdens on federal agencies. This decision is perplexing, given that the government stands to lose nothing by allowing CMB Export, LLC, to proceed with the case.”
Gooden asks Garland six pressing questions on the case:
- What specific facts or circumstances led the Department to determine that dismissing this case is “commensurate with the public interest”?
- Given the significant taxpayer losses alleged in this case, how does the Department justify its claim that discovery and litigation obligations would impose “an undue burden” on the Treasury, Department of Energy, and DOJ?
- Given that the Department of Energy (DOE) played a role in approving and facilitating the transactions under investigation, what safeguards were in place to ensure the DOJ’s decision-making process was free from undue influence or conflicts of interest?
- Why did the DOJ wait until November 6, 2024—one day after the presidential election—to file its motion to dismiss after previously allowing the case to proceed in August 2023?
- Was the timing of this motion influenced by political considerations, particularly the transition to a new administration?
- How does the DOJ reconcile its decision to dismiss a case that seeks to recover taxpayer dollars with its responsibility to uphold accountability and transparency in cases of alleged fraud against the government?
Gooden also asked Garland to provide him with immediate access to all government documents on this front and advised the outgoing Attorney General to preserve all records of this matter.
“To ensure transparency and accountability are upheld in this case, I request immediate access to all records and communication in relation to the Crescent Dunes project and its subsequent dismissal,” Gooden wrote. “Please preserve all information relating to this process, including all documents, communications, and other information, including electronic information and metadata, that is or may be potentially responsive to a congressional inquiry, request, or investigation. For the purpose of this request, ‘preserve’ means securing and maintaining the integrity of all relevant documents, communications, and other information, including electronic information and metadata, by taking reasonable steps to prevent the partial or full destruction, alteration, testing, deletion, shredding, incineration, wiping, relocation, migration, theft, mutation, or negligent or reckless handling that could render the information incomplete or inaccessible. This includes preserving all compilations of documents that have already been gathered in response to requests, even if copies of individual documents may still exist elsewhere.”
12.17.24 – Crescent Dunes Letter AG Garland by Breitbart News on Scribd
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