The White House on Friday strongly
rebuffed a subpoena from House Republicans seeking all
communications about a failed solar panel manufacturer that
received a half-billion dollar federal loan guarantee.

   In a letter to two top Republicans on the House energy panel,
White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler said the request "was driven
more by partisan politics than a legitimate effort to conduct a
responsible investigation."

   The White House and the Energy Department have already turned
over 85,000 pages of documents on Solyndra Inc. The
California-based company filed for bankruptcy and laid off 1,100
workers after receiving $528 million in federal backing.

   Ruemmler said those documents show no wrongdoing or political
favoritism by the administration. She added that curiosity alone is
not a justification to encroach on the Executive Branch's
longstanding confidentiality interests.

   House Republicans have used Solyndra to highlight what they see
as President Barack Obama's failure to create clean energy jobs.
The company was the first to receive a federal loan guarantee under
the 2009 stimulus law, which greatly expanded the program. Obama
visited the company last year to praise it publicly.

   Documents already obtained by the committee show that the
administration knew the firm had problems, yet continued to support
it.