Mark Penn Quits Job as Clinton Top Strategist

Burson Marsteller CEO and top Clinton stategist Mark Penn stepped aside on Sunday after news that he lobbied for a free trade treaty with Colombia that Clinton opposes.

The WSJ broke the story on Friday.

Washington Post: Penn apologized for the March 31 meeting with the Colombian envoy, which he said was held in his separate role as CEO of Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, a lobbying firm hired by Colombia to promote a U.S. trade deal with the South American country.

The news is bad all around for Burson, as they also lost the Colombia government account.

Keith O’Brien penned the PRWeek story, citing an AP report that the Clinton campaign has compensated Penn, Schoen & Berland — Penn’s consulting firm — $10.8 million since the start of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Mike Bush, former PRWeek writer now at AdAge, has a big feature on Penn that was published today. Good timing!

A veteran of the global agency world told PRNewser, “one would be surprised by the notorious client names on most of the big agencies’ rosters.”

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