Clinton Strategist Lobbied for Trade Pact She Opposes

MEMPHIS — Mark Penn, the pollster and chief strategist for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign, apologized on Friday for meeting with Colombian officials to discuss a free-trade agreement that Mrs. Clinton opposes.

The Colombians hired Mr. Penn in his role as chief executive ofBurson-Marsteller, one of the nation’s leading public relations firms,to help secure passage of the trade pact. President Bush supports thetrade deal; Mrs. Clinton has opposed it as unfavorable to Americanworkers. Her campaign confirmed her opposition again on Friday afternews of Mr. Penn’s work on behalf of the pact was disclosed in anarticle in The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Penn and otherBurson-Marsteller executives met with the Colombian ambassador to theUnited States, Carolina Barco Isakson, and other Colombian officials inWashington on Monday, an embassy spokeswoman said.