Obama Admin All But Refuses to Turn Over Subpoenaed Solyndra Documents

On Friday the Obama White House essentially refused to turn over documents subpoenaed by House Republicans on bankrupt solar firm Solyndra, blasting off a feisty letter saying that the request would put an "unreasonable burden on the president's ability to meet his constitutional duties."

"The Committee's extremely broad request for documents -- now a subpoena -- is a significant intrusion on Executive Branch interests," the letter continued.

Fox News adds:

White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, in her letter, scolded GOP lawmakers for demanding more documents, noting the Obama administration has already turned over 85,000 pages of documents in the course of their investigation. Without explicitly refusing to comply with the subpoena, Ruemmler repeatedly described the order as "overbroad."

"The Committee's extremely broad request for documents -- now a subpoena -- is a significant intrusion on Executive Branch interests," Ruemmler wrote, saying she can only conclude the subpoena was "driven more by partisan politics than a legitimate effort to conduct a responsible investigation."

Republican Congressman Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee,  wondered what the Obama administration is attempting to "hide" by issuing such a response.

"We have been reasonable every step of the way in this investigation, and it is a shame that the Obama administration and House Democrats continue to put up partisan roadblocks to hide the truth from taxpayers," he said. "Now, we need to know the White House's role in the Solyndra debacle in order to learn the full truth about why taxpayers now find themselves a half billion dollars in the hole. The White House could have avoided the need for subpoena authorizations if they had simply chosen to cooperate."

The White House said in the letter Friday that "there is no basis for such a broad request," claiming the administration has acted in "good faith" to accommodate the requests so far.

Ruemmler said the White House is "willing" to continue working with the committee but suggested they "negotiate the scope" of the documents they want produced.

Given the administration's dubious track record where Solyndra is concerned, it is perhaps not a shock that it is reacting this way.