Politico’s Mike Allen Apologizes for Promising Chelsea Clinton ‘No-Risk’ Questions
Politico’s White House Correspondent Mike Allen gave a “my bad” today in response to how he tried to score an interview with Chelsea Clinton by promising a “relaxed” and “no-risk” discussion with pre-arranged questions.
Allen was taken to task by Gawker last week, after a Freedom of Information Act request turned up a series of emails from Philippe Reines, an employee of the State Department under Hillary Clinton. Allen said in his emails that he and Reines would “agree on [questions] precisely in advance,” and that the Chelsea Clinton could pick whatever subject she wanted to talk about.
During Politico’s morning email today, Allen conceded that his email was “clumsy” as it was written, and that Gawker was right to call him out on it. He tried to back up his defense by referencing Politico’s “spontaneous, conversational” event interviews, but also said he never provided sources with questions in advance and would not do so in the future.
“In the email, I said I’d agree to the questions in advance. I have never done that, and would never do that,” Allen said. “POLITICO has a policy against it, and it would make for a boring event… Without stunts or grandstanding, we challenge guests to address newsworthy topics, and to be original, relevant and revelatory. A scripted back-and-forth would be a snore.”
RELATED: Why Politico Claiming ‘Exclusive’ on my MSNBC Scoop Ticks Me Off
Allen also elaborated that the interview never ended up happening, and that the email “makes [him] cringe” for what it suggested he was proposing.
“My bond with readers and newsmakers is built on knowing I don’t pull punches. So I wanted to share my take on this, and make sure our policy is clear,” Allen said.
[image via Politico]
— —
