Solyndra executives to invoke Fifth Amendment rights in congressional hearing
September 21, 2011 at 4:02 AM by AHN ? Leave a Comment
Kris Alingod ? AHN News Contributor
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) ? Executives of Solyndra, the solar company under investigation for going bankrupt despite receiving a $535 million federal loan, will not answer questions during a congressional hearing set for Friday.
In a letter to the oversight panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a lawyer for chief executive Brian Harrison said he had advised his client to invoke the Fifth Amendment.
?This is not a decision arrived at lightly, but it a decision dictated by current circumstances,? said the attorney, Walter Brown, citing the search warrant executed by the Justice Department on Sept. 8 at the company?s offices.
?Mr. Harison regrets that this circumstances prevent him offering full and complete answers to this subcommittee,? Brown added. ?I know, however, that this subcommittee understands the reasons and basis for my advice in the context of an ongoing Department of Justice investigation.?
Harrison is appearing before the panel voluntarily. He took over as CEO last month after Solyndra founder Chris Gronet stepped down to take an advisory role for the beleaguered company.
Solydra chief financial officer W.G. Stover will also be attending the hearing, and his lawyer has informed congressmen that he will not be providing testimony.
Citing the current federal probe on the company, Jan Nielsen Little said in a letter to lawmakers ?it would be irresponsible? for his client not to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
The committee has been investigating the administration?s loan guarantee to the company. It issued the White House Office of Management and Budget a subpoena in June for documents about the loan, which was issued with the agreement that Solyndra would ramp up operations and hire 1,000 more workers.
Republican congressmen, who took control of the panel as the majority party in the House this January, have used the failure of Solyndra to heighten attacks against the administration?s economic stimulus and promotion of clean energy technology to create jobs.
They believe the administration was ?in the rush to get stimulus cash out the door,? and failed to invest in a financially sound company.
Committee Chair Fred Upton (R-MI) and oversight subcommittee chair Cliff Stearns (R-FL) said in a statement on Wednesday they had identified documents ?which suggest that the timetable to issue the Solyndra loan guarantee was accelerated in order to meet stimulus deadlines.?
?Beginning in December 2008, a [Department of Energy] employee began raising concerns about Solyndra?s working capital,? they added. ?In August 2009? that same employee again noted that the working capital issue remained unresolved, and that the ?model runs out of cash in Sept. 2011 even in the base case without any stress.? ?
Solyndra, a solar equipment maker the White House used as a model for clean energy technology, suspended operations on Aug. 31 and later filed for bankruptcy. The Fremont-based manufacturer said global economic conditions and weak demand for solar panels had forced it to reorganize its business and lay off 1,100 full-time and part-time workers.
A restructuring plan has yet to be announced. One option is to sell its business and to license the technology it uses to make its products, which include a unique cylindrical solar panel that maximizes sunlight absorption.
Solyndra was the first recipient of a loan guarantee under the Obama administration?s economic stimulus package. The loan guarantee, worth $535 million, was issued in 2009 under a program of the Energy Department.
Last year, President Barack Obama visited the company?s facility in California to tout the fruits of the government?s investment. Solyndra was expanding at the time and, according to the White House, was providing business to out-of-state workers making construction materials for a new factory as well as those assembling equipment for solar production.
The company has since suffered cash flow problems, and the Energy Department had to restructure the loan early this year. In addition, a planned public offering in June 2010 was canceled. In the first half of 2011, strong growth was not enough to help the company transition quickly enough to full-scale operations, which would have allowed it to compete with larger foreign manufacturers.
Article ? AHN ? All Rights Reserved
PITY REALLY, huh, Trench, Sponge, Duff and Chadman?
:0corn
September 21, 2011 at 4:02 AM by AHN ? Leave a Comment
Kris Alingod ? AHN News Contributor
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) ? Executives of Solyndra, the solar company under investigation for going bankrupt despite receiving a $535 million federal loan, will not answer questions during a congressional hearing set for Friday.
In a letter to the oversight panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a lawyer for chief executive Brian Harrison said he had advised his client to invoke the Fifth Amendment.
?This is not a decision arrived at lightly, but it a decision dictated by current circumstances,? said the attorney, Walter Brown, citing the search warrant executed by the Justice Department on Sept. 8 at the company?s offices.
?Mr. Harison regrets that this circumstances prevent him offering full and complete answers to this subcommittee,? Brown added. ?I know, however, that this subcommittee understands the reasons and basis for my advice in the context of an ongoing Department of Justice investigation.?
Harrison is appearing before the panel voluntarily. He took over as CEO last month after Solyndra founder Chris Gronet stepped down to take an advisory role for the beleaguered company.
Solydra chief financial officer W.G. Stover will also be attending the hearing, and his lawyer has informed congressmen that he will not be providing testimony.
Citing the current federal probe on the company, Jan Nielsen Little said in a letter to lawmakers ?it would be irresponsible? for his client not to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
The committee has been investigating the administration?s loan guarantee to the company. It issued the White House Office of Management and Budget a subpoena in June for documents about the loan, which was issued with the agreement that Solyndra would ramp up operations and hire 1,000 more workers.
Republican congressmen, who took control of the panel as the majority party in the House this January, have used the failure of Solyndra to heighten attacks against the administration?s economic stimulus and promotion of clean energy technology to create jobs.
They believe the administration was ?in the rush to get stimulus cash out the door,? and failed to invest in a financially sound company.
Committee Chair Fred Upton (R-MI) and oversight subcommittee chair Cliff Stearns (R-FL) said in a statement on Wednesday they had identified documents ?which suggest that the timetable to issue the Solyndra loan guarantee was accelerated in order to meet stimulus deadlines.?
?Beginning in December 2008, a [Department of Energy] employee began raising concerns about Solyndra?s working capital,? they added. ?In August 2009? that same employee again noted that the working capital issue remained unresolved, and that the ?model runs out of cash in Sept. 2011 even in the base case without any stress.? ?
Solyndra, a solar equipment maker the White House used as a model for clean energy technology, suspended operations on Aug. 31 and later filed for bankruptcy. The Fremont-based manufacturer said global economic conditions and weak demand for solar panels had forced it to reorganize its business and lay off 1,100 full-time and part-time workers.
A restructuring plan has yet to be announced. One option is to sell its business and to license the technology it uses to make its products, which include a unique cylindrical solar panel that maximizes sunlight absorption.
Solyndra was the first recipient of a loan guarantee under the Obama administration?s economic stimulus package. The loan guarantee, worth $535 million, was issued in 2009 under a program of the Energy Department.
Last year, President Barack Obama visited the company?s facility in California to tout the fruits of the government?s investment. Solyndra was expanding at the time and, according to the White House, was providing business to out-of-state workers making construction materials for a new factory as well as those assembling equipment for solar production.
The company has since suffered cash flow problems, and the Energy Department had to restructure the loan early this year. In addition, a planned public offering in June 2010 was canceled. In the first half of 2011, strong growth was not enough to help the company transition quickly enough to full-scale operations, which would have allowed it to compete with larger foreign manufacturers.
Article ? AHN ? All Rights Reserved
PITY REALLY, huh, Trench, Sponge, Duff and Chadman?
:0corn
