The Republican National Committee is aggressively trying to make the bankruptcy and investigation of California solar energy ...
The Charleston Gazette is a member of the Politico Network.
The Republican National Committee is aggressively trying to make the bankruptcy and investigation of California solar energy firm Solyndra into a liability for President Barack Obama, calling it a “prime example of stimulus failure.”
Solyndra was given $500 million in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy, but two weeks ago the company announced that it was declaring bankruptcy and abruptly laid off 1,100 workers. Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at Solyndra headquarters in California, which both Obama and Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu have visited in the past to highlight green jobs.
“After laying off 1,100 workers, wasting over $500 million in loan guarantees and becoming the subject of an FBI investigation, Solyndra is the now the prime example of stimulus failure,” Chairman Reince Priebus says in a statement going out Monday, reports POLITICO’s Morning Score. “Before taxpayers are forced to spend another dime of stimulus money, the White House must explain why they were so reckless the first time around.”
The loan issued to Solyndra was the first under a federal loan guarantee program managed by the Department of Energy. The program was created in 2005 under the Bush administration but supported in large part by funds from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus program.
Accompanying the press release will be a fifteen page research document that features quotes from Obama and Vice President Joe Biden praising Solyndra.
“The true engine of economic growth will always be companies of Solyndra,” said Obama in May.
The research document also says that the FBI raid of Solyndra headquarters suggest that the Justice Department is investigating whether Solyndra misled the federal government while securing its loans.
The FBI would not comment last week why it was the company’s offices.
The Democratic National Committee had no immediate comment on RNC’s effort.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns will be holding a hearing on Wednesday to investigate the federal loans to Solyndra. Solyndra President Brian Harrison and Solyndra CFO W.G. Bill Stover have been invited to testify.
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