That Penn was mugged in Dupont Circle struck me as odd at the time. It's a very safe area. In the years I lived there I never heard of any muggings.
As I said in a previous post above, seems those that engage in dalliances with the O have not fared to well...
The fact that he left a successful TV series to take on an unimportant job in the WH, added to his sudden departure and the mugging on his way out struck me as very odd every step of the way.