Colombian gov't official unsure if Penn represented Clinton or B-M

Update: Penn says the meeting was an "error in judgment" and repeats claim that Clinton's opposition was not discussed. The skepticsnark in me wonders if Penn's statement might be ripe for some parsing -- perhaps her opposition wasn't discussed because they discussed her support? I still think there needs to be an explanation why the Colombian government, which has close ties to the Clintons, didn't understand what Penn's role was.

Update 2: Calls for Penn's resignation have begun.

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Everybody is talking about the WSJ bombshell that Hillary Clinton's top campaign aide met with the Colombian government on a trade deal she claims to oppose and that he's working to pass. All sides agree that the aide, Mark Penn, is a hired gun for both Clinton and Colombia. The question is who was he representing at the meeting? Camp Clinton says Penn represented his firm, Burson-Marsteller. The Colombian government isn't so sure, however. The WSJ:

A spokesman for Colombia's President Álvaro Uribe said the ambassador met with Mr. Penn to discuss the bilateral agenda. "There have also been meetings with the advisers to the campaigns of Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain," he said. "It's the embassy's job to explain Colombia's reality."

The spokesman said he didn't know if Mr. Penn was representing Sen. Clinton or Burson-Marsteller, which signed a $300,000, one-year contract with the Colombian Embassy in March 2007 to work on behalf of the trade deal and anti-drug-trafficking initiatives, according to the Justice Department filings.

A spokesman for Sen. McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, said a team of policy advisers met recently with 20 Latin American ambassadors, including Colombia's. An Obama spokesman and the Colombian Embassy spokeswoman both said the Colombian ambassador had never met with an Obama representative.

Ironically, last month, Hillary Clinton played the victim card when she alleged an Obama adviser had done the same thing Penn did.

Peering at the 50 or so reporters packed into a small hotel conference room here, she added: "I would ask you to look at this story and substitute my name for Sen. Obama’s name and see what you would do with this story ... Just ask yourself [what you would do] if some of my advisers had been having private meetings with foreign governments."

Clinton's gambit was succesful, I might add. The NAFTA story was a very big deal in the final days before Ohio.