Hillary Clinton’s supporters often argue that mainstream political reporters are incapable of covering her positively—or even fairly. While it may be true that the political press doesn’t always write exactly what Clinton would like, emails recently obtained by Gawker offer a case study in how her prodigious and sophisticated press operation manipulates reporters into amplifying her desired message—in this case, down to the very word that The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder used to describe an important policy speech.

Most people in Washington attribute the success of Politico’s marquee morning newsletter, Playbook, to the superhuman work ethic of its main author and Politico’s Chief White House correspondent, Mike Allen. According to several 2010 emails recently obtained by Gawker, however, Allen has employed one unusual productivity trick: letting someone he covers ghostwrite an item for him.

Jim VandeHei, co-founder of The Politico, will leave the Washington-based news operation after the 2016 election. He will take with him Mike Allen, The Politico’s reporter-mascot, who says today that the two plan to start “a new venture that will change the world one more time.”

The Huffington Post has a triple-bylined report—from Michael Calderone, Ryan Grim, and Sam Stein—about “a major shake-up” coming to Politico’s masthead:

Politico correspondent Mike Allen has insisted that his obsequious attempts to secure an interview with Chelsea Clinton, in which Allen promised to conduct a “no risk” exchange and to clear interview questions beforehand, did not reflect his normal practices or Politico’s editorial standards. New emails obtained by Gawker, however, indicate Allen has repeatedly offered similar terms to at least one politician on Capitol Hill.

Who would have thought a softball question from Mike Allen could end so disastrously?

Last week, we published emails in which Mike Allen, the chief White House correspondent of Politico, promised to provide completely positive coverage of Chelsea Clinton in exchange for a sit-down interview at a brunch hosted by the political news outlet. Allen initially claimed ignorance—“I don’t remember this e-mail”—but today, in his early-morning Playbook newsletter, he acknowledged he had sent it and regretted it:

Few journalists are more thoroughly connected to Washington’s power elite than Politico’s Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen. But as newly released emails between the veteran reporter and a former State Department official show, Allen’s coveted access sometimes comes at the cost of his own credibility—as well as Politico’s reputation as an adversarial news outlet.

Mike Allen is the most famous journalist at THE POLITICO. His "Playbook" newsletter sets the agenda for much of DC's media class. Mike Allen's dad, Gary Allen, was a racist, lunatic right wing author. Let's peruse one of his books, shall we?

Erik Wemple documents in detail how Mike Allen, hoarder-in-chief at THE POLITICO, gives extremely favorable editorial coverage to companies that advertise in his "Playbook" newsletter. Mike Allen, hoarder/ whore-der.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright just published, then mysteriously deleted, the following tweet: “sometimes i sleep-email and accidentally delete @politico #playbook first thing in the morning. @mikeallen deserves better.” What could it mean?

Mike Allen, chief White House correspondent for THE POLITICO and “'the most powerful' or 'important' journalist" in Washington, D.C., has a clutter problem. This is a photograph of his office at Time magazine, where he worked as a political reporter until 2007.

Reading the New Republic's enlightening and maddening interview with the the amoral monsters behind THE POLITICO—"Q. Does President Obama read Politico? A. I assume he does, yes."—we were reminded of an old story we read once.

Megalomaniacal supervillain Jim VandeHei and emotionally hobbled robo-reporter Mike Allen, both of Politico, have penned a rugged endorsement of Mitt Romney's chief grievance today, agreeing with his advisors that the press corps is busy "scaring up stories to undermine the introduction of Mitt Romney to the general election audience." We need more serious, measured, balanced, non-inflammatory reporting on both candidates, said the men responsible for Politico, a web site that catalogs what political flacks' "dietary dossiers."

Politico reporter Mike Allen, whose hot-about-town Washington status was recently confirmed via an 8,000-word New York Times Magazine profile, has a dream. It's that Republicans win nine Senate seats this November, making politics more fun for reporters!

Machine-like purveyor of conventional media wisdom Howard Kurtz takes on the DC press corps' most important question today: Hey, is Politico's Mike Allen really Washington's Most Important Journalist? Or might that Most Important Journalist be [my name]?

There are two ways to tackle the Mark Leibovich profile of his old friend Mike "Morning-Winner" Allen, and the Politico celebrity tabloid that Allen composes a newsletter for: how Politico hurts America and how weird Mike Allen is.

The same morning the New York Times posts their monster magazine profile of Politico newsletter savant Mike Allen, Politico management announces a high-profile hiring! Crazy! Washington influentials, please enjoy Maggie Haberman. And a VandeHarris memo!

Oh boy—Michael Calderone is... teasing the upcoming Mark Leibovich story on the hellish "journalism-alternative" sweatshop that is Politico. On Twitter. The big story is about Mike Allen, as all of these things are.

Because David Gergen, Jon Meacham, Howard Fineman, Mike Allen, Josh Marshall, David Brooks, and Gail Collins did! Also: Mara Liasson, who works for NPR and the Fox News Channel that Obama wants to destroy.