Romney tied to former Solyndra lobbyist

Mitt Romney is facing scrutiny this week for associating himself with a lobbyist whose firm worked for failed California solar panel company Solyndra.

Lobbyist Alex Mistri co-hosted a Romney fundraiser Wednesday that included a number of lobbyists and members of Congress, held at the American Trucking Association near D.C.’s Capitol Hill.

Mistri is a managing director of the lobbyist firm Glover Park Group LLC. The firm worked for Solyndra in the weeks leading up to the company’s declared bankruptcy, though the firm was reportedly never paid for their work. Mistri is also a Republican donor and has donated money to Romney’s campaign this year.

Romney has slammed the Obama administration for backing the now-bankrupt California solar panel maker as recently as earlier this week in an op-ed for the Orange County Register. Romney accused the White House of acting like a “venture capitalist” by trying to pick winners in providing Solyndra a $535 million loan guarantee.

“Even as the administration trumpeted its accomplishments, the firm was careening toward insolvency,” Romney wrote. “Taxpayers were left holding a $500 million bill, and the firm was left facing an FBI investigation.”

Romney also noted that “at least one Solyndra-linked fundraiser is helping to organize Tuesday’s presidential cash call in San Francisco,” likely referring to Steven Spinner, a former Energy Department official believed to have pushed the White House for a prompt decision on the Solyndra loan.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), one of Romney’s biggest congressional endorsements yet, also attended the fundraiser on Wednesday.

Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been at the forefront of the congressional investigation into the White House-backed loan guarantee to the solar firm.