GOP Considering Subpoenaing WH Over Solyndra

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House Republicans aren’t giving up on finding the “smoking gun” in the Solyndra scandal just yet. The Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Wednesday announced it would consider subpoenaing five White House staffers about the bankrupt solar company.

The subcommittee will hold a meeting on Friday to consider issuing subpoenas to the following five staffers:

  • Kevin Carroll, Energy Branch Chief, OMB
  • Kelly Colyar, Branch Chief, OMB
  • Aditya Kumar, Deputy Assistant to the Vice President and Senior Advisor to then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel
  • Fouad Saad, Program Examiner, OMB
  • Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

“Testimony from these key individuals, along with the internal West Wing documents that the White House is withholding, are critical to learning the lessons of Solyndra and ensuring it never happens again,” said subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) in a statement.

The subcommittee has for nearly a year been investigating the role of the White House in a $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee granted to Solyndra before it went bankrupt in Septmeber, voicing suspicions that political pressure and cronyism led to the guarantee being issued. In November, Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified before the subcommittee, saying that the loan guarantee was made entirely on Solyndra’s merits as a business, not as a result of any undue political influence from the White House.

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