Firing a legal salvo directly at the White House, a House committee voted along party lines Thursday to subpoena President Barack Obama’s inner circle for its deliberations over the administration’s failed $535 million investment in a California solar panel maker that was backed by a political fundraiser for the president.
The subpoena, which has not yet been issued, would direct the chiefs of staff of the president and vice president to turn over internal correspondence on the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee to Solyndra Inc.
After securing its half-billion dollar taxpayer financing in 2009, the fledgling firm this year shut its doors, fired 1,100 workers and filed for bankruptcy.
Its collapse gave a black eye to the Energy Department, which has issued billions of dollars in federal support to clean technology firms, and has attracted investigations from the FBI, inspectors general for the Energy and Treasury departments and two House committees.
Energy officials raced to support Solyndra in the face of abundant red flags the company was a risky bet.
New internal emails obtained by iWatch News and ABC News show that Energy officials downplayed concerns even from Solyndra’s own auditor, who last year raised “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s 14-9 vote fell along party lines, with Republicans demanding the release of the deliberations while Democratic leaders contended the subpoena impedes on executive privilege, a limited legal privacy protection afforded to presidential actions typically in the realm of national security.