Newlywed former members of Pres. Barack Obama’s administration recently took jobs in Connecticut’s environmental bureaucracy despite the groom’s potential ties to Solyndra, the now-defunct solar company aggressively funded by the federal government.
Michael “Mackey” Dykes, a former regional finance manager for Obama’s presidential campaign, served as a liaison between the White House and the Department of Energy. He was hired in February to serve as chief of staff for the newly formed Connecticut Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority.
His salary is $125,000.
ABC News connected Dykes and other former Obama fundraisers to the Solyndra fiasco in a September 2011 investigation.
CEFIA is responsible for investing in clean energy and energy efficiency projects, much like the federal programs that provided Solyndra with more than $500 million in loan guarantees.
Dennis Schain, spokesman for Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, told the Courant, the couple is “making a new start” in Connecticut.
“They’re here in Connecticut working now and that’s the story,” Schain said in response to questions about what, if anything, the couple did in relation to Solyndra.
Last year, leading up to the October “jobs session” of the General Assembly, CEFIA proposed investing hundreds of millions of state pension dollars into its green energy projects, but the proposal did not make it into the final legislation, according to a legislative source.
Katie Scharf Dykes – according to a wedding announcement the couple had plans to marry in October 2011 – worked in Washington as deputy White House counsel for the Council on Environmental Quality and before that as legal advisor for the general counsel of the Department of Energy.
Earlier this week, DEEP Commissioner Dan Esty announced Scharf Dykes would serve as his acting deputy. Esty’s previous deputy, Jonathan Schrag, resigned after he apparently tried to intimidate a conservative activist.
Documents obtained by Congress as part of its investigation into Solyndra do not shed any light on what players were involved because most of the names are redacted.
As far as I’m concerned the state and federal governments are criminal organizations. The corruption will not stop- it will only get worse.
Will this corruption ever stop. Connecticut is broke and we’re going to pay $125,000. for political payback and they’re not even trying to hide the fact. It’s a slap in our faces. Connecticut has to be one of the most corrupt states in this country and if not, it certainly is the most mismanaged.