Solyndra execs to skip Wednesday's hearing

The FBI is investigating Solyndra’s handling of $535 million in federal loan guarantees. | AP Photo 

By DARREN SAMUELSOHN | 9/13/11 4:10 PM EDT  

Two of Solyndra’s top executives will skip Wednesday's House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the solar company's financial failures but have agreed to appear the week of Sept. 19, according to oversight subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns.

Brian Harrison, Solyndra's president and CEO and Chief Financial Officer Wilbur Stover requested the delay and told House GOP aides late Monday they’re not planning to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights when they appear next week.

"That's what we understand. But that could change," Stearns told POLITICO.

FBI agents searched Harrison’s home earlier this month as part of an investigation with the Energy Department’s inspector general regarding Solyndra’s handling of $535 million in federal loan guarantees.

Last month, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and laid off 1,100 workers.
House Republicans envisioned the Solyndra officials as their star witnesses in an investigation aimed at exposing one of the poster children for the Obama administration's "green jobs" agenda. Stearns, a Florida Republican, said he was willing to give the officials more time in light of the other investigations.
"They're in the middle of a bankruptcy. They're snowed under. I respect that," Stearns said. "A little bit of leniency here to get the truth I'm willing to do if they give us the truth."
Stearns added that he’s hopeful the company officials will still testify. "I think their lawyers might say we're going to think this over,” he said.
In a statement, Solyndra cited “legal complexities arising from last week’s activities and the urgency of the bankruptcy proceedings,” as the reason for the postponement.
“The company is in direct communication with the committee staff and working with them on a future date for Mr. Harrison and Mr. Stover to voluntarily appear,” Solyndra added. “Given that it is in the best interest of all creditors, including the U.S. government, to attempt to gain maximum value for the Solyndra assets, either via sale of the whole company or in parts, including its intellectual property, it is in the best interest of all interested parties for them to remain in California to engage with potential purchasers.”
Two senior Obama administration officials are still on the agenda for Wednesday's hearing: Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients and Jonathan Silver, the executive director of the Energy Department's loans programs office.
Rep. Diana DeGette, the ranking member of the oversight panel, said that she's also anxious to hear from Solyndra officials as well.

"I think it's important that they do come and testify and I look forward to hearing what they have to say," she said. "I think having Solyndra in there to talk about their perspective of the loan and what happened to their company would add to our examination of this whole issue.”
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 3:49 p.m. on September 13, 2011.


Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63428.html#ixzz1XvUcLkEJ