House Panel Subpoenas White House Solyndra Docs

Despite last-minute efforts by the White House, the House Energy and Commerce Committee panel today authorized subpoenas for internal White House documents related to the Solyndra mess. The Washington Post calls the move “apparently unprecedented.” President Obama’s top lawyer had sought a deal and White House officials had delivered some 20,000 more pages of emails and other documents to investigators yesterday, while Democrats on the panel fought the decision; the vote nonetheless came down 14-9 along party lines.

The communications requested involve Bill Daley and Joe Biden’s chief of staff Bruce Reed, as well as a broad selection of other senior aides including Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, Larry Summers, and former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain. Rep. Cliff Stearns says he also wants to see the president’s relevant BlackBerry messages, Politico reports. The panel’s ranking Democrat called the move a partisan attack and “sad day” for the committee. (More Solyndra stories.)