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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN):  “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. and I have to tell you, Mr. Secretary, it's really troublesome to me, the number of times I've heard you say today that this is the first time you've been made aware of something, or that you know something now, you didn't know it then. So it leads me to believe that maybe you had some staff that was kind of keeping you out of the loop on some decisions. Let me ask you this. Did anyone from DOE talk to anyone from the White House about restructuring or subordination? Was there any communication between DOE and the White House about the restructuring and the subordination of that loan?”

Sec. Chu:  “Certainly at the time that we were discussing this, I was aware of no communication whatsoever with the White House.”

Rep. Blackburn:  “Are you aware of any communication now?”

Sec. Chu:  “I was made aware of it as of yesterday.”

(House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee, U.S. House Of Representatives, Hearing, 11/17/11)