'An error in judgment'
Posted: Friday, April 04, 2008 1:19 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC's John Boxley
As mentioned earlier today, the Wall Street Journal reported that Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn -- in his role as chief executive of Buston-Marsteller -- met with Colombia's ambassador to discuss a free trade deal, which Clinton actually opposes.
Penn just released this statement: "The meeting was an error in judgment that will not be repeated and I am sorry for it. The senator's well known opposition to this trade deal is clear and was not discussed."
*** UPDATE *** Change to Win, a federation of labor unions (like SEIU and the Teamsters), that has endorsed Obama, is calling for Hillary Clinton to fire her chief strategist, Mark Penn. "We have questioned Penn's role in the Clinton campaign in the past for his representation of union busting employers like Cintas," Change to Win executive director Greg Tarpinian said in a statement. "At that time, Penn said there was a wall between him and his firm's representation of union busters. The latest revelation that Penn -- whose firm represents the Colombian government in its effort to secure passage of a so-called free trade agreement -- is actively involved in securing its passage in the middle of Senator Clinton's presidential campaign is outrageous. It also suggests that he has been playing a double role - advising the Senator on what to say to curry Democratic voters and advising the Colombian government on what to say to curry a majority of votes in Congress."
