Clinton Aide Mixes Campaign Role, Advocacy for Companies

Clinton Aide Penn Mixes Campaign Role, Advocacy for Companies

By Timothy J. Burger and Kristin Jensen

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposed on Feb. 27 more research funds for new energy technology, including ``clean'' coal systems. The next day, Mark Penn, her top campaign strategist, had a different take on coal.

In an internal blog at his other job, as chief executive officer of public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, Penn wrote of how Burson worked ``behind the scenes'' for TXU Corp., a Texas company seeking to build power plants fueled by pulverized coal, which some environmentalists say would be major polluters.

Contradictions between Penn's private business dealings and Clinton's public policy positions -- which Penn helps formulate and sell to voters -- point up potential clashes in doing both campaign consulting and corporate advocacy. Penn's firm works for clients, from a tobacco company to drugmakers, whose interests are often at odds with the New York senator's agenda.

``That individuals and groups are serving today as both consultants to campaigns and as lobbyists or PR folks for private clients is a modern-day phenomenon that has inherent conflicts of interest,'' said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a Washington-based group that advocates for tougher ethics laws. ``It is a very unhealthy practice.''

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the Christian base side didn't know they were being played?

The Abramoff emails are a gift that keeps on giving.

Why?