Rep. Burgess: Solyndra Needs Independent Probe

The Solyndra scandal continues to dog the Obama administration. Texas GOP Rep. Michael Burgess, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is urging the White House to appoint an independent investigator to look at the administration’s decision to grant a $535 million loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt solar panel maker, The Hill reports.

Emails show that White House officials sought to rush regulators to approve the guarantee so it could be announced at a press event for Vice President Joe Biden.

“My opinion is that it [the appointment of an independent investigator] should have already happened. It hasn’t,” Burgess told Fox Business Network. “We’ll see where that goes, but clearly there needs to be a special master involved in the investigation.”

Burgess and other Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee have begun an investigation into Solyndra’s failure, arguing that the White House failed to notice signals that the company was in financial distress.