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Keith Olbermann apologized to President Clinton for MSNBC's Lewinsky coverage

Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann sent a letter to President Bill Clinton in 1998 personally apologizing for his network's coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, newly released files from the Clinton Library show.

In October of that year, Olbermann wrote a letter to the president, apologizing for "whatever part I may have played in perpetuating this ceaseless coverage (of the Lewinsky story)," according to an email from Clinton aide R. Scott Michaud.

Olbermann also told the president that he intended to return to his previous career in sportscasting: "I'll be heading back to my previous career in sports as quickly as possible," Olbermann wrote.

In Michaud's email to other White House aides, he attached an E! Online article revealing that Olbermann had confronted then-MSNBC president Andrew Lack about his frustrations with the network's Lewinsky coverage. The host wanted out of his three-year contract, the article stated.

Michaud also asked his colleagues -- including current Obama spokesperson Jennifer Palmieri -- if he could send Olbermann the generic response "for support letters to the President."

That email read, "Dear Keith: Thanks so much for your kind message. I've been touched by the many expressions of.encouragement and support I have received from friends across the country. I'm grateful you got in touch with me, and I send you my very best wishes. Sincerely, POTUS."

Olbermann left MSNBC for Fox Sports Net shortly thereafter. He would return to MSNBC in 2003 and served until 2011, when he was unceremoniously ousted from the network without explanation. Olbermann held a brief stint at Al Gore's Current TV and then returned, yet again, to sportscasting. In July 2013, he was given his own show on ESPN 2.