Mark Penn, chief strategist for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, is resigning from her election team, campaign manager Maggie Williams said today.

"After the events of the last few days, Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as chief strategist of the Clinton campaign," Williams said in a statement e-mailed to reporters. "Mark and Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign."

Penn had come under fire for meeting with representatives of the Colombian government in his role at the PR firm Burson-Marsteller to help advance a pending free trade agreement that Clinton disagrees with.

Williams said Penn's duties will be assumed by pollster Geoff Garin and Communications Director Howard Wolfson.

This is the second recent shakeup weathered by the Clinton campaign. In February, then-campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle stepped down to make room for Williams.

— Carrie Sheffield, Web editor, The Washington Times