Politico’s Mike Allen Apologizes for Proposing Softball Chelsea Clinton Interview

Politico’s chief White House correspondent Mike Allen apologized on Monday for proposing a softball interview to Chelsea Clinton in 2013.

“MY BAD!” Allen wrote in response to a Gawker story that published interviews between Allen and Clinton aide Phillipe Reines. Allen was under fire for promising to agree upon questions before the interview, and then allow Chelsea to make news on whatever topic she chose.

Allen conceded Gawker “rightly took me to task,” calling his email exchange with Reines “clumsy.”

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“In the email, I said I’d agree to the questions in advance. I have never done that, and would never do that,” Allen wrote on Monday, explaining that Politico has a policy against disclosing questions beforehand.

Allen tried to back up his defense by talking about Politico’s event series, which feature “spontaneous, conversational and news-driven” interviews “without stunts or grandstanding.”

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“We challenge guests to address newsworthy topics, and to be original, relevant and revelatory,” he continued, adding that “a scripted back-and-forth would be a snore.”

Ultimately, Allen didn’t interview Clinton, but the email he wrote while trying to land the former First Daughter makes him “cringe.”

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“I should never have suggested we would. We retain full, unambiguous editorial control over our events and questioning,” he concluded. “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.”