Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. John Thune made the following comment on information provided by A123 Systems, Inc., in response to the senators' Oct. 9 inquiry about a federal stimulus grant provided by the Department of Energy:
"The very day A123 filed for bankruptcy, the Department of Energy sent the company a check for nearly $1 million. The Department of Energy was aware of A123's pending transaction with a foreign company, Wanxiang. In fact, the Energy Department was informed on August 3 and still gave the company more federal tax dollars. In addition, A123 confirms it has a federal government contract with a 'secret' security classification. All of this paints a disturbing picture. One, the Department of Energy is writing checks to a company literally as it is declaring bankruptcy. Two, a private company and federal grant recipient has provided more disclosure about its operations and assurances about intellectual property and national security than our own Department of Energy. The Department of Energy needs to answer for why it appears to put federal grants on auto-pilot to the detriment of U.S. taxpayers. This can't stand."
A123 Systems, Inc.'s response to the senators is available here.
The senators' letter to A123 Systems is available here.
