John Harris defends Mike Allen's role as a Cheney spokesman thus:
Trying to get newsworthy people to say interesting things is part of what we do. Also in December we had a long Q and A with the other prominent former vice president Al Gore. That story might also have looked to some like providing an uncritical platform if you viewed it only isolation.
But the point is that there was no q and a with Cheney. There was just a printing of his statement, given exclusively to Politico. But Harris's reply requires a follow-up: "trying to get newsworthy people to say interesting things" is his paraphrase of what was going on. So did Allen actually reach out to Cheney and ask him for a comment? Or did Cheney call Allen?
I think we need transparency from a news organization, don't you? Did Allen or Cheney initiate the statement's release via Politico?