Mark Penn Is Out But His Wife Still Digs Colombia

It wasn't pretty for big-time lobbyist and pollster Mark Penn when he got caught pitching the Colombian government on its free-trade proposal with the United States while his top client, Sen. Hillary Clinton, was bashing the deal. He was dumped from his chief strategist's chair, and Colombia tore up its $300,000 contract with Penn's lobbying firm.

Well, here's proof that either Colombians don't have long memories or don't check guest lists of groups using their embassy. Just yesterday, Penn's wife, prominent Democratic activist and fundraiser Nancy Jacobson Penn, joined some pals at an event in the Colombian Embassy for a Jewish women's group called AURA. Ironic? Nah, it's just Washington.

By Paul Bedard