The White House and McAuliffe campaign are attempting to downplay a meeting between Terry McAuliffe and a White House official in 2010 about GreenTech, NBC Richmond reports:
However, both McAuliffe and White House both downplayed the significance of the meeting with Greg Nelson, who at the time worked in the White House Office of Public Engagement. [...]
"Terry's recollection of the meeting was that it was an informational meeting to hear about the administration's plans for manufacturing in America and share progress of the company," said McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin who confirmed the meeting did in fact happen. [...]
A White House official, speaking on background, said that the Office of Public Engagement and Nelson in particular met with the leaders of "thousands" of companies. McAuliffe and GreenTech just happened to be one of them.
Nelson, the official with whom McAuliffe met, was additionally involved in helping Solyndra receive $535 million in federal money, the company that famously filed for bankruptcy after receiving the guaranteed loan.
McAuliffe's role with the green car maker has faced heightened scrutiny in recent weeks.
The well-connected Democratic fundraiser and former chairman of GreenTech also met with a Department of Homeland Security official about the company. That official, Alejandro Mayorkas, is currently under investigation by the DHS inspector general over his management of a visa program used by GreenTech.
In May, the Washington Post reported last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into how GreenTech and it sister company, Gulf Coast Funds Management, solicited foreign investors through the EB-5 visa program.