Obama Administration Refuses to Release Milestones Missed by Fisker under Conditions of Auto Manufacturer’s $528.7 Million Government Loan

Department of Energy Releases Blacked Out Records on ‘Green’ Car Milestones

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that the Obama Department of Energy (DOE) refuses to release details regarding the milestones missed by the failing Fisker Automotive under the terms of its $528.7 million bailout loan from the DOE.  In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed February 14, 2012, by Judicial Watch, the DOE released “in part” a Microsoft PowerPoint document that was mostly blacked out.

Judicial Watch sought the following records:

[A]ny and all records identifying, describing or setting forth the milestones that have been missed by Fisker Automotive under the terms of its $528.7 million conditional loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The purpose of the Obama administration’s Fisker bailout was to help the company manufacture its Karma and Nina electric vehicles. In response to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request, the DOE released three Microsoft PowerPoint slides entitled “Karma Milestones,” “Nina Milestones,” and “Funding Milestones,” respectively.  On the Karma and Nina records, there are three categories of information, “original,” “status” and “revised.”  On the page regarding funding, the three categories are labeled, “Original,” “$ Mils,” and “Status.”  The DOE redacted all key details printed on these three records under these categories, citing Exemption 4 of FOIA law related to “trade secrets.”

Judicial Watch’s FOIA request regarding Fisker’s missed milestones is part of a comprehensive Judicial Watch investigation into the Obama administration’s bailout of this failing automobile manufacturer.

“The Obama administration’s response to this simple FOIA request is not only dishonest it is insulting to the American people. How dare the Obama Department of Energy take over half-a-billion dollars from the taxpayers and then tell them it’s none of their business whether these funds were put to good use! I suspect the information on these blacked out pages of records is embarrassing to the Obama administration.  But embarrassment is not a valid reason for withholding records. The Fisker scandal is debacle for taxpayers and the Obama administration is in cover-up mode,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.