Steven Spinner, a former official at the Energy Department who pushed for a quick decision on Solyndra LLC's loan guarantee, continues to fundraise for President Obama, despite the controversy over the failed solar-panel manufacturer.

Spinner, whose wife's law firm represented Solyndra, recused himself from loan-guarantee discussions, but emails show he pushed for its approval and was involved in coordinating a "big event" to announce the $535 million loan guarantee.

Recently, Spinner participated in a conference call planning a large fundraising luncheon in San Francisco for Obama. He has also participated in other fundraising calls.

Spinner is a "bundler," or someone who gathers checks from a number of individuals and gives the total to the Obama campaign. He collected more than $500,000 for the president in the most recent filing period, according to the Federal Election Commission.

But his involvement remains controversial even among Obama's Democratic supporters because of the hype over Solyndra.

The Obama campaign defends Spinner, saying that he is just an "active fundraiser for the campaign" and did not raise funds specifically for San Francisco. A Democratic fundraiser who did not wish to be named says that the White House is viewing Solyndra as a partisan issue.

"It's a tough fundraising climate, and they regard the Solyndra issue as just partisan politics," the fundraiser said (Nicholas/Hamburger, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 24). -- AP