In a letter to the chairs of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, Kathryn H. Ruemmler, counsel to the president, calls the request for documents made by House Republicans a "vast fishing expedition" and a "significant intrusion on Executive Branch interests." "As written, [the subpoena] encompasses all communications within the White House from the beginning of this Administration to the present that refer or relate to Solyndra, and the subpoena purports to demand a complete response in less than a week," Ruemmler writes. "Thus, any document that references Solyndra, even in passing, is arguably responsive to the Committee’s request, and you reaffirmed this week that you intend for the request to be that broad. There is no basis for such a broad request beyond a “vast fishing expedition," as Congressman Dingell noted yesterday. Moreover, responding to such an expansive request would require the devotion of substantial resources to gather and review many documents that are of no legitimate oversight is itself an unreasonable burden on the President's ability to meet his constitutional duties."

The White House Counsel's Office has formally rejected the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subpoena of documents related to the $535 million loan guarantee for the now-bankrupt solar energy company, Solyndra.

Ruemmier added, "I can only conclude that your decision to issue a subpoena, authorized by a party-line vote, was driven more by partisan politics than a legitimate effort to conduct a responsible investigation." The White House has provided more than 85,000 pages of documents to the committee already.

The deadline for the document release under the subpoena is Nov. 10. Negotiations should continue over the next week as the committee and White House determine which documents are germane.