Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff for President Obama, referred media questions about his role in supporting the Solyndra loan guarantee to the attorneys in the White House.
“It’s simple, you just talk to the White House counsel,” Emanuel told 89 WLS, a Chicago radio show. “They are answering all the questions and they will answer any questions you have on the matter.”
A House report on the Solyndra bankruptcy showed that Emanuel was a driving figure behind President Obama’s appearance at the Solyndra factory — he was “super hot” to do the event, according to White House aide Ron Klain — because he believed that “[j]obs and high tech and Recovery Act is a winning combination.”
The report also indicates that Emanuel’s interest played a role in the White House supporting the loan guarantee, based in part on a 2009 email that Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Policy, wrote to another White House staffer.
“In addition, Ms. Zichal stated that ‘folks in the financing community’ had also raised concerns about the Solyndra loan guarantee, ‘[b]ut if Rahm wants it, we’ll make it happen,’” the report says of the email.
