Mark Penn Apologizes For Colombia Free Trade Work

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief strategist apologized Friday for meeting with Colombian officials pushing a free trade agreement that the presidential candidate opposes.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the strategist, Mark Penn, met Monday with Colombia's ambassador to the United States. Clinton advisers said Penn's meetings were not connected to the campaign, but part of his job as chief executive of the lobbying and public relations firm Burson-Marsteller Worldwide.

But a Clinton adviser said the candidate was not happy to learn about the meeting, and Penn issued a statement expressing regrets.

"The meeting was an error in judgment that will not be repeated and I am sorry for it," Penn said in a written statement. "The senator's well-known opposition to this trade deal is clear and was not discussed."

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said the candidate has not discussed the Colombian deal with Penn.

"Senator Clinton's opposition to the Colombian Trade Deal is clear and she will be voting against it," Singer said.

The Colombian government is trying to secure congressional passage of the agreement signed in 2006 by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the Bush administration.

According to Justice Department filings, Colombia agreed last year to pay Burson-Marsteller $300,000 to help "educate members of the U.S. Congress and other audiences" about the trade deal and secure continued U.S. funding for the $5 billion anti-narcotics program Plan Colombia.

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Clinton and her Democratic rival Barack Obama oppose the deal. Clinton told the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO this week that the United States needs new trade policies before it has new trade deals. "That includes no trade deal with Colombia while violence against trade unionists continues in that country," she said.

Penn's political consulting firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland, has been paid $10.8 million so far by Clinton's campaign.

Penn has come under criticism for other Burson-Marsteller clients, including tobacco giant Philip Morris and corporate clients accused of union-busting activity. While Penn says he does not personally work on any accounts that could be construed as anti-labor, labor leaders have publicly expressed concern about his involvement with the campaign.

Union leaders backing Obama criticized Penn's involvement with the Colombians. Change to Win called for Penn's resignation and Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa issued a statement that said Clinton's opposition to the Colombian agreement had been undermined.

"How can we trust that a President Hillary Clinton would stand strong against this trade deal when her top adviser is being paid by Colombia to promote it?" Hoffa asked.

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On the Net:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com

Comments

[ann1]

I'm so tired of the deception

[ChrisS13]

What deception? HRC's been against this bill for a while and has already stated many times she's voting against it.

[3billis811]

So, her Campaign Headmaster had no idea where Hillary stood on this issue, and Hillary had no idea that Mark "Hamhoc" Penn was going to Colombia? I call Bullsh**!

[sharpz111]

This just illustrates the audacity of Mark Penn!

Why is Hillary hiring guys like this? I mean its bad enough that he is hated by most of her own campaign staff. It just looks like bad judgement.

I mean are we really supposed to believe that Penn made this 'error of judgement' when the contract was awarded last year? No, Penn, WHO IS THE WORLDWIDE CEO OF THE COMPANY, has known he was going to do this for a long time, and is being completely disingenuous.

The worst thing about this is that he evidently doesn't care abouting harming the campaign he works for, his self-interest leads him to wherever he can get the most cash. It's called greed.

[Tejano1]

this should be front page news in every paper in the u.s. so much for all the anti-free trade b.s. coming out of hellary's mouth. she's got a scumbag like penn raking in millions lobbying for the very thing klinton is supposedly against. no conflict of interest there, huh? it just goes to show that all her economic populist, feel your pain rhetoric is nothing but lies for the masses. it reminds me exactly of lincoln chaffee writing about a post-election meeting w/ darth cheney in which chafee brought up the compassionate conservative agenda, and cheney said, 'that was campaign talk.' the klintons are liars. they're good at one thing, taking care of themselves. you don't make 9 figures looking out for the 'working folk.'

[ChrisS13]

Wow, you tejano, are truly a moron is overly obsessive with attacking HRC. Penn is a CAMPAIGN advisor, he has absolutely nothing to do with Policy. He was considered one of the best campaign guys in the bus. that is why he was hired. I think he's been truly horrible and that HRc should have fired him a while ago, but his other job has zero to do with HRC or what she would do. You know that, but you choose to spread your vile hatred. So what figure can you make and still look out for the working folk? Is 7 too much, or is 8 just right? The fact that they are worth that much and she would still want to go through this whole mess and put up with being attacked by moronic woman haters like you, says that she does care IMO. DO I think there is an Ego issue, yes, on both sides. but I do think both candidates want to make things better for everyone. But you'll never understand such, because your cup of Koolaid has runneth over.

[3billis811]

Chris, it's time to stop licking Mark Penn's taint and take in a breath of fresh air.

[3billis811]

Chris, it's time to stop licking Mark Penn's tain* and take in a breath of freshair

[Barbarossa03]

Chris you're an idiot if you think that people who criticize and condemn Clinton's hypocrisy, lies, and corruption is because she is a woman.

[fatim]

This is big and The press needs to get it out there.
Why do you think Sen Clinton released her taxes at that same time!?

nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/us/politics/05penn.html?ref=us

[SifSkade]

I may be naive, but for once, I don't think that this is a Clinton conspiracy and that she secretly supports the trade agreement. I think that it's an illustration of the severity of the mistake that Hillary made in choosing a head publicist/­strategist who was continuing to work for other clients at the same time, including many high-powered businesses whose agendas are at odds with Clinton's campaign platform/promises. When she's doing the post-mortem on her failed campaign, I hope she includes "Hiring Mark Penn" in the top three reasons why she didn't make it. The other two reasons, of course, being "Me" and "Bill."

[sayitloud]

How can Penn be both highly paid chief strategist for a campaign desperately in need of focus and CEO of a multi-million dollar lobbying firm tied to policy interests the candidate is supposedly against? Besides, Penn's involvement in this Colombian deal must have been in the works for months. Clinton's lack of awareness of Penn's corporate clients is a scathing indictment on her ability to lead. The evidence is striking: unable to properly vet and manage her staff, unable to manage her campaign's financial obligations, and unable to distinguish fiction from reality.

[Vern58]

You would think HRC would understand how bad this will look. Aparently, she doesn't have a clue. Mark Penn is a disgraceful opportunist.

[Ton]

HRC and the Campaign were pushing the US-Columbia deal in secret and yet opposing it to get votes. This is too bad. An interesting write-up can be found here:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/5/01018/58668/686/490543

"We need this write-up to get recommended enough to be on the rec-list, because the Clintons managed to squash the Mark Penn story by releasing their taxes. We need to keep attention on Mark Penn/Clinton and Columbia, because it could mean that they are working with a government that kills workers if they try to join a union." - Barath

[atila]

this is a really important incident..­..Alvaro Uribe is the most important Bush administration partner in South America,well known reppresor and apparently tied to drug cartels...­.....this is not just a wink wink......

[mlaiuppa]

So Penn showed poor judgment by meeting with Columbian officials in his capacity of Lobbyist while on the Clinton payroll?

I'd say Hillary Clinton has shown poor judgment in the people she has hired to run and represent her in her campaign.

So there's several apologies to go. (BTW a REGRET is NOT an APOLOGY.)

[atila]

the media made a huge scandal around a false wink wink from Obama staff members to the Canadian Embassy and they never clarified that Hillary's people were the first doing this and now they just let this important issue go.......i don't think so that hillary didn't know about Penn ties and for me this incident speak volumes even if the media didn't care......­.

[TiffShelton]

No one in that million dollar machine thought this would look bad?

Who's running Hillary's campaign? Amateurs?

[debwarot]

Yep - that is what it sounds like. Lets hope they keep doing just exactly what they've been doing.

[artfluzzy08]

The WHOLE CLINTON CAMPAIGN IS MARRED BY

LIES/DECEP­TIONS/CONT­RADICTIONS­/INVENTION­S/EMBELLIS­HMENTS/AND THEN SOME!!!

Watch out!!!

[Heressay]

So why would a smart woman like Ms. Clinton choose Mark Penn? What does Penn do after all? Makes sleaze bags like big tobacco, criminals like Blackwater, and corrupt Columbian proposals sound good. He sells something people don't really like and don't really need. And he always puts profits above people, like he just did to Ms. Clinton. And this is what she chose to sell her candidacy to the American people...

[victoriajubilee]

I hope the working class people of Pennslyvania get to know about this . We have to get it out to them. Most of their information comes from the evening news who probably wont mention this. We have to get out stuff like this to Pennslyvania and Indiana and also North Carolina.