The White House said Wednesday there was no evidence it has acted inappropriately, after reports said it rushed a review of a half billion dollar loan to now bankrupt solar panel firm Solyndra.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that officials pressed for a decision on the loan so that Vice President Joe Biden could announce the approval at a groundbreaking for the company's new factory in September 2009.
The Post report was based on emails between the Office of Management and Budget and White House officials, obtained by the newspaper, as Republicans rolled out the findings of a congressional probe into the matter.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the emails showed only that White House officials were seeking information on the loan to work out the vice president's schedule.
"What the emails make clear is there was urgency to make a decision on a scheduling matter," Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.
"People were simply looking for answers about whether or not people could move forward."
"There is no evidence to the contrary (the contacts had) nothing to do with anything besides the need to get an answer to make a scheduling decision."
House of Representatives Republicans said Wednesday that the evidence showed that the White House, in its rush to push out stimulus spending, had cut short the final review process for the loan to Solyndra.
Critics of the administration say that the firm, once hailed as a shining example of President Barack Obama's push to create green jobs in a new energy economy, was instead an symbol of unwise federal handouts.
California-based Solyndra has now filed for bankruptcy, closed its doors and laid off 1,000 workers, leaving taxpayers on the hook for a $535 million dollar loan.
