WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Leaders of the Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee called White House officials to testify about bankrupt solar energy company Solyndra.
The FBI and officials from the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday raided Solyndra's offices in San Francisco. The raid was apparently in connection with $535 million in loan guarantees from the U.S. Energy Department, though the FBI didn't offer details about the raid.
As part of an economic stimulus package from the White House, Solyndra was awarded a loan from the Department of Energy in 2009. There have also been concerns about a potential buyer dismantling the company's production equipment and shipping it overseas.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said they were calling on White House, Department of Energy and Solyndra officials to testify next week about the bankruptcy.
"Irresponsibly choosing winners and losers on projects like Solyndra is a perilous and often doomed method to create jobs," they said in a joint statement. "There is much to learn as the investigation moves forward, and it is imperative that the American taxpayers are not paying the price for the sins of Solyndra."
Both leaders said they've been conducting an investigation into the Solyndra loan guarantee for six months but weren't notified of the Thursday raid.
