HRC'S BLACKWATER CONNECTION...
UPDATE: Mark Penn emailed the Politico's Ben Smith to say that the Associated Press story, on which I wrote this blog post, is inaccurate. "It was a temporary assignment based on a relationship that has concluded," Penn says. "Burson is correcting this." The question, of course, is what was the "temporary assignment," when did it begin and when did it conclude? To be continued...
UPDATE II: Burson says its subsidiary, BKSH & Associates, run by GOP operative Charlie Black, "helped Blackwater prepare for their recent hearing before Congress. With the hearing over, BKSH's temporary engagement has ended."
The PR firm run by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's top strategist, has a new client: Blackwater.
Burson and its subsidiaries, as I reported in a profile of Hillary's corporate advisors in May, has represented everyone from union-busters to big tobacco to Ahmad Chalabi. Blackwater represents a new low.
The firm will be tasked with salvaging Blackwater's tattered image and allegedly murderous conduct. But hey, if Burson could set up the National Smokers Alliance on behalf of Philip Morris, which covertly fought anti-smoking initiatives, who knows what they could do for private mercenaries.
The account is being handled by Robert Tappan, a former State Department official who directed communications for the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004. Tappan was presumably one of the people tasked to defend Blackwater when State was giving it hundreds of millions of dollars in military contracts.
Hillary Clinton, like so many Democratic politicians, has sharply criticized the conduct of Blackwater in Iraq. "Let's end outsourcing our government to companies like Blackwater and hold the contractor accountable," she said at a rally in California this week.
But her chief strategist remains the head honcho at the company defending them. Penn has never clarified his financial stake at Burson since he joined the Clinton campaign, nor exactly how much business he's still doing. Now might be a good time for a thorough explanation.
UPDATE III In Iowa today, Edwards attacked Hillary on her strategist's Blackwater ties. "I also saw this morning that Senator Clinton's primary advisor, Mark Penn who is like her Karl Rove–-his firm is representing Blackwater," Edwards said. "I think it is important for Iowa caucus goers to understand the choices they have in this election. And it is the reason I continue to say we don't want to replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats."
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=240313