Wolfowitz resist bogus charges

Washington Post:

World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz, defending his role in a pay increase and promotion for his girlfriend, told a special bank panel today that he "acted transparently" and in good faith, and he said he has no plans to resign in the face of a "bogus charge of conflict of interest."

In a prepared statement submitted to a panel looking into the matter, Wolfowitz lashed out at the bank's ethics committee, whose advice he said he had followed, and he warned the institution's board of directors that they would be "hypocritical" to criticize him.

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Wolfowitz appeared before the ad hoc committee with his attorneys and presented a 20-page document defending himself, in addition to his prepared statement. He said that when he came to the World Bank, he tried to resolve "the potential conflict of interest caused by my pre-existing, personal relationship with Shaha Riza," a senior bank employee.

Among other actions, he said, he disclosed his relationship with her, proposed to recuse himself from all personnel matters involving her and registered "strong and repeated objections" when the bank's ethics committee told him that he should implement a promotion and pay-raise plan for her once she was placed in a position outside the bank.

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"I regret the tumult this has caused the Bank," Wolfowitz said in his statement. "However, to criticize me when I did nothing other than attempt in good faith to follow the guidance of the Ethics Committee would be unwarranted and grossly unfair. Moreover, it would be harmful to the institution."

It is so clear he acted properly, he said, that "I can only conclude that the rush to judgment, and the orchestrated leaks of false, misleading, incomplete and personal information about me and Ms. Riza, are all part of a conscious campaign to undermine my effectiveness as President and derail important programs of the Bank to aid the poor, especially in Africa."

He added: "The goal of this smear campaign, I believe, is to create a self-fulfilling prophecy that I am an ineffective leader and must step down for that reason alone, even if the ethics charges are unwarranted." But forcing him out in a "circus-like process" will send "a terrible message" to any potential successor and show that "the Bank does not care about reform," he said.

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Good for him. The charges appear to be based on egregious bad faith by those in the bank pushing them. If the Euros were hoping for a resignation today they have to be reeling at this point. They should also be concerned about litigation. Their attempt to sabotage his presidency cannot be said to have been done in good faith at this point. I think that is why they were so eager for a resignation. If they fired them based on the current state of the record in this matter I think they would be looking at a wrongful termination case at a minimum.