As President Obama continued his speaking tour today to push an American Jobs Act that Republicans are dismissing as a second stimulus program, the Republican National Committee sought to make the bankrupt solar energy company Solyndra the poster child of the White House's first stimulus effort.

The RNC released a 15-page report this morning detailing the downfall of the California company that was awarded a $535 million loan guarantee with great fanfare in 2010 through a Department of Energy program funded under Obama's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

"Before taxpayers are forced to spend another dime of stimulus money, the White House must explain why they were so reckless the first time around," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. "If this administration is serious about being the most transparent in history, it will make available to the American taxpayer the details of Solyndra's failure."

The RNC report makes sure to include details on the company's connection to an investment company with ties to major Obama donor George Kaiser and notes the questions that independent Government Accountability Office auditors raised about whether the loan had been properly reviewed.

Priebus said Solyndra's demise puts a spotlight on "kind of taxpayer-funded cronyism this White House said it would eliminate" and called on the White House to more fully explain its connections to the company.

"After bundling tens of thousands of dollars for President Obama and his campaign, company officials were granted at least 20 visits to the White House, after supporting the Obama campaign, and had Energy Department officials sitting in on company board meetings," Priebus said.

A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee did not return calls seeking comment on the RNC report.

Solyndra's rise to become a top presidential campaign issue has been meteoric since the company suddenly shut its doors at the end of last month and then was raided last week by FBI investigators working in conjunction with the Department of Energy's inspector general (E&ENews PM, Sept. 8)

But for the past six months, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee had been investigating the Solyndra deal.

Although it was once dismissed as a "fishing expedition" by the committee's ranking member, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the panel's inquiry into the Solyndra loan has steadily gained attention as House Republicans and the Office of Management and Budget fought over what internal documents the committee had the right to review.

Still, as recently as July, the panel's investigation subcommittee chairman, Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), was trying to create some distance between his probe of the loan approval process and the ongoing business operations of Solyndra.

"I have met with Mr. Harrison the CEO of Solyndra and I wish his company well," Stearns said after company officials came to Washington, D.C., seven weeks ago. "We have no desire to make it more difficult on an American company that is trying to create jobs in a tough economy. The current investigation is on OMB and its review of the loan guarantee, not on Solyndra, and our focus is on ensuring that taxpayer money is protected."

But after the FBI raid on Solyndra last week, Stearns seems intent on putting the spotlight back on Solyndra. Last week Stearns released a statement slamming the company for misleading congressional investigators.

On Wednesday, while Obama continues his tour to promote his new jobs bill, Stearns will convene another Solyndra hearing on Capitol Hill in which he has requested the presence of both the CEO and CFO of the company.