Two months before Solyndra went belly up arrangements were made for President Barack Obama to receive a personal briefing on the clean-energy loan program that funneled a half billion dollars in federally-backed loans to the solar panel company,
The Washington Post reported.
The scheduled briefing was revealed in a series of e-mails between Energy Department staff involved in the program. Administration officials told the Post the e-mails show that the White House involvement was appropriate.
The loan program has become a major issue in the president’s re-election campaign with Republicans charging the program wasted money and benefited Democratic fundraisers. The e-mails were provided to the Post by Republican investigators for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The documents do not show whether the briefing took place or if Obama offered guidance on the program, the Post reported. However, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and other GOP members of the Oversight Committee have asked the president for a “full and complete” explanation of his involvement.
“The American people have a right to know the level of involvement you and other senior White House officials had in the loan guarantee program,” the committee wrote in a letter to Obama according to the Post. “Your interactions with business leaders at political events affected decisions to give billions of taxpayer dollars in loan guarantees to green energy companies.”
After Solyndra closed its doors last year the FBI raided its offices. The government is investigating whether company misled the government about its finances, the Post reported.
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.