An inspector general has opened a review of the Energy Department after reports that it paid to develop advanced battery technology at a U.S. national laboratory — then turned it over to China and shut down requests from American companies to license the technology.
Sens. Joni Ernst and John Barrasso requested the probe last month, saying they feared the battery incident was part of a larger pattern of shipping taxpayer-funded research and technology to China. They said America’s “economic and national security” was at stake.