Wolfowitz's Apology

Let me just say a few words about the issue on everyone’s mind. Two years ago, when I came to the Bank, I raised the issue of a potential conflict of interest and asked to be recused from the matter. I took the issue to the Ethics Committee and after extensive discussions with the Chairman, the Committee’s advice was to promote and relocate Ms. Shaha Riza.

I made a good faith effort to implement my understanding of that advice, and it was done in order to take responsibility for settling an issue that I believed had potential to harm the institution. In hindsight, I wish I had trusted my original instincts and kept myself out of the negotiations. I made a mistake, for which I am sorry.

-Paul Wolfowitz

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Related;
The World Bank-The Wolfowitz affair;

But as he prepares to welcome ministers to the bank's spring meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14th and 15th, Mr Wolfowitz's own toes (so memorably exposed when he doffed his shoes during a visit to a Turkish mosque) may feel a bit toasty. For that, he can thank the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a vibrant participant in America's civil society—and the document it has fed to competitive media still far more fascinated by the man than by the organisation that he has run for almost two years.

The document in question is the salary history of Mr Wolfowitz's girlfriend, Shaha Riza, who was working at the bank at the time of his arrival. Three months later, Ms Riza was posted to America's State Department at the insistence of the bank's ethics committee, which was not happy for one sweetheart to supervise another. What has raised eyebrows and greened complexions in Washington in recent weeks is the deal's super-generous financial terms: before she left the bank, Ms Riza was earning $132,660. Two big pay hikes later, she takes home $193,590, much more than the secretary of state herself.