UPDATE 1-Obama adviser wanted Energy Secretary Chu demoted

* Obama campaign adviser suggested Chu's demotion
* Republicans had subpoenaed documents
* Some e-mails on loan restructuring withheld

By Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - An adviser to President
Barack Obama's 2008 campaign delivered a damning e-mail
critique of the U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu's ability to
advance clean energy technology, calling for his demotion.
The White House handed over e-mails sent by the former
adviser, Dan Carol, to top Obama advisers as part of a 135-page
response on Friday to Republicans investigating the
government's aid to Solyndra, a bankrupt solar panel maker.
The Solyndra issue has become politically sensitive for
Obama in the lead-up to the 2012 presidential election, because
the president and several of his senior officials had held it
up as a good example of creating "green energy" jobs.
The e-mails come less than a week before Chu is slated to
face intense questioning from Republicans on the House Energy
and Commerce committee about the $535 million loan guarantee to
Solyndra, which was raided by the FBI.
In the e-mails, obtained from a government source, Carol
predicted a "wave of GOP (Republican) attacks that are surely
coming over Solyndra and other inside DOE (Department of
Energy) deals that have gone to Obama donors and have
underperformed."
In a March 13 e-mail, Carol told Pete Rouse, a senior Obama
advisor, that Chu should be demoted to "chief scientist" and
advocated wholesale change for several top positions.
"We are in an energy emergency, so pardon my aggressive
intrusions," Carol said. He called Chu "wonderful and
brilliant" but said he was not comfortable meeting bankers.
Rouse forwarded the e-mail to others, asking for comments
on the energy policy concerns, noting Carol "is smart and
reflects the president's general philosophy on energy policy"
although Rouse said he was "not that interested in Dan's
criticism of Secretary Chu."
Reached by Reuters late on Friday, Carol said "the e-mail,
the issues about DOE deployment speaks for itself."FAILED STRATEGY
House Republicans have collected more than 200,000 pages of
e-mails so far in their investigation, and this week released
several showing a major private backer of Solyndra discussed
the company during meetings with White House officials.
Republicans had subpoenaed the White House for the
documents obtained on Friday, but an administration official
said the e-mails do not show the White House making decisions
on Solyndra aid.
"None of these documents contain evidence of political
favoritism or wrongdoing by White House officials," Kathryn
Ruemmler, President Barack Obama's chief counsel, said in a
letter to the House Energy and Commerce committee.
Representatives Fred Upton and Cliff Stearns, who lead the
committee's investigation, described the new disclosure as "a
limited number of self-selected documents, along with their own
interpretation of what those documents show.
"While the subjects of an inquiry are not the ultimate
arbiters of their actions, we're hoping this is the beginning
of an effort to finally make public" more information about the
Solyndra loan, Upton and Stearns said in a statement.
Ruemmler told Upton and Stearns that the White House held
back a group of e-mails related to discussions it had with the
Energy Department about restructuring Solyndra's debt.
That plan allowed $75 million from private investors to be
ranked ahead of the government in the event of bankruptcy -- a
decision that Republicans have pilloried.
"We believe those are confidential communications. That's a
longstanding position of Republican and Democratic
administrations for decades," an administration official said,
noting the e-mails would be made available for a private review
by committee investigators.
Emails obtained on Friday showed Top White House energy
officials were aware of the "severe liquidity crisis" at
Solyndra last December and about the possibility that the
government's debt would be subordinated.