Republicans seek Treasury testimony at Friday Solyndra hearing

House Republicans probing the failed solar panel company Solyndra, which collapsed recently despite receiving a half-billion dollar federal loan in 2009, are seeking Treasury Department testimony at their next Capitol Hill hearing Friday.

The planned appearance of an as-yet-unnamed Treasury witness follows release of emails last week showing that a senior Treasury official expressed concern in August that the Energy Department’s early 2011 decision to restructure Solyndra’s loan guarantee may have been illegal.

Committee Republicans have zeroed in on restructuring that put private investors, who were providing another $75 million to the struggling company, first in line for repayment if the company went under. Republicans have attacked this "subordination" of the taxpayer interest.

“We haven’t confirmed it, but we’re going to have someone testifying on their emails to DOE saying not to go ahead with the Solyndra subordination,” Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the Energy and Commerce member spearheading the Solyndra investigation, said in the Capitol Tuesday. Stearns heads the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

“The [Oversight and Investigations] subcommittee looks forward to hearing testimony from the Treasury Department this Friday, especially in light of the recent discovery of documents that reveal the Treasury believed DOE violated the law in restructuring the Solyndra loan,” an Energy and Commerce spokesman added Tuesday evening.

But according to the Energy Department, critics are relying on an incorrect reading of the statute when alleging the “subordination” of federal government to private investors in the restructuring was illegal.

The Energy Department has defended the restructuring, arguing it gave the struggling company the best chance to stay afloat in the competitive solar panel market.

Andrew Restuccia contributed to this story.