The House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigative panel announced it will hold hearings next Wednesday on the government's Solyndra loan. ABC News and iWatch News have also learned that Senate investigators have begun seeking answers from the administration about the deal.
"How did this company, without maybe the best economic plan, all of a sudden get to the head of the line?" said committee chairman Rep. Fred Upton, R.-Michigan, in an ABC News interview last week. "We want to know who made this decision ... and we're not going to stop until we get those answers."
The California firm shut its doors abruptly last week, firing workers. It filed for bankruptcy this week. The company's failure came after officials in the Department of Energy had spent two years touting the company's promise, and fast-tracked Solyndra through the normally cumbersome process of securing hundreds of millions in federal funds. All that help caught the attention of federal auditors, who questioned why the Energy Department granted it conditional loan approval even before completing the legal and financial reviews that were typically required.
Posted at ABC News
Just days after the company filed for bankruptcy protection, federal agents swarmed around the Solyndra facilities in Fremont to execute a search warrant.
FBI agents were joined by officials from the Department of Energy's Office of the Inspector General in the early morning operation. Officials would say little about the search, which seemed to center on the Solyndra buildings on Page Avenue off Interstate 880.
"Everything is under seal," said Julianne Sohn, a spokeswoman for the FBI.
Agents began executing their search about 7:30 a.m., Sohn said. More agents arrived in SUVs at 8:40 a.m.
The action by federal agents comes a week after the solar manufacturer abruptly closed, laying off about 1,000 workers, and two days after the company filed for bankruptcy protection.
Solyndra spokesman Dave Miller said the search came as a surprise, but he emphasized the company is "fully cooperating" with federal officials. He said he did not know the purpose of the search, but he speculated it could have something to do with the $535 million in loan guarantees the Department of Energy awarded to Solyndra.
There are indications that the agents are in the process of interviewing Solyndra employees.
Solyndra facilities in Fremont to execute a search warrant.
FBI agents were joined by officials from the Department of Energy's Office of the Inspector General in the early morning operation. Officials would say little about the search, which seemed to center on the Solyndra buildings on Page Avenue off Interstate 880.
"Everything is under seal," said Julianne Sohn, a spokeswoman for the FBI.
Agents began executing their search about 7:30 a.m., Sohn said. More agents arrived in SUVs at 8:40 a.m.
The action by federal agents comes a week after the solar manufacturer abruptly closed, laying off about 1,000 workers, and two days after the company filed for bankruptcy protection.
Solyndra spokesman Dave Miller said the search came as a surprise, but he emphasized the company is "fully cooperating" with federal officials. He said he did not know the purpose of the search, but he speculated it could have something to do with the $535 million in loan guarantees the Department of Energy awarded to Solyndra.
There are indications that the agents are in the process of interviewing Solyndra employees.
Posted at MercuryNews.com
Let the feeding frenzy begin......
Both posts found thru Weasel Zippers
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