WITNESSES WILL BE SUBPOENAED/CONGRESS SHOULD USE ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS, INCLUDING CONTEMPT

WASHINGTON, FEB. 9, 2012 – “It has been nearly five months since the Committee first requested White House documents relating to the Solyndra loan guarantee, and almost three months since these documents were subpoenaed,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.  “The American taxpayers have a right to know of the White House’s involvement in the Solyndra loan guarantee and how $535 million in taxpayer funds were put at risk.  The White House also has a Constitutional obligation to cooperate with this oversight investigation.”

Said Stearns, “It is wrong for the White House to continue this charade insisting that those advisors closest to President Obama were not involved in Solyndra when documents clearly show otherwise. Nearly every West Wing official within the Oval Office’s closest orbit – Larry Summers, Carol Browner, Ron Klain, Valerie Jarrett, David Axelrod, Jim Messina, Dan Pfeiffer, Jay Carney, and Cecilia Munoz - were all part of Solyndra discussions.”

Stearns today wrote to Kathryn Ruemmler, Counsel to the President, on the White House failure to comply with the subpoena.  Stearns signed the letter along with Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and all Republican subcommittee members.

The letter states, “Since the subpoena was served on November 3, 2011, the White House has repeatedly rebuffed the Committee’s efforts and has selected only a very limited number of documents for production.  For example, the White House continues to withhold documents that provide information about its involvement in the restructuring and subordination of the Solyndra loan guarantee, even though one document shown to the Committee, dated August 12, 2011, demonstrates that the White House approved the restructuring.”  Said Stearns, “This subordination of the taxpayers violated the energy Policy Act of 2005, and The Department of Energy’s outside counsel advised that it could not subordinate taxpayers.”

The letter adds that none of the documents produced “has been able to answer some of the fundamental questions that are at the core of our investigation.”  It further outlines these questions that include “Who made the decision that Solyndra should delay its announcement of job layoffs until after the 2010 midterm elections? What was the extent of the White House’s involvement in the restricting of the Solyndra loan guarantee, especially in light of the fact that the OMB and Treasury had questioned the advisability of the restructuring? Did the fact that Solyndra’s largest investor was also a contributor to the President impact the manner in which the review, monitoring, or restructuring of the Solyndra loan guarantee was handled?”

The letter further requests that the White House make available four OMB employees and two White House employees identified as being involved in reviewing and monitoring the loan guarantee and restructuring for interviews with Committee staff.   

“I urge the White House to be forthcoming with the subpoenaed documents that are central to uncovering the truth,” concluded Stearns.  “The White House is not above the law and Congress must use all available options, including Contempt of Congress proceeding.”