Wolfowitz: Bye

1) A committee of World Bank directors has formally notified Paul D. Wolfowitz that they found him to be guilty of a conflict of interest in arranging for a pay raise and promotion for Shaha Ali Riza, his companion, in 2005. The findings stepped up the pressure on Mr. Wolfowitz to resign.

Conflict of Interest

2) A close aide to World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz resigned on Monday, saying turmoil at the bank over its current leadership has made it difficult for him to do his job.

“Given the current environment surrounding the leadership of the World Bank Group, it is very difficult to be effective in helping to advance the mission of the institution,” Kellems said.

Kellems, who served as an advisor to Wolfowitz from 2002 when he was U.S. deputy defense secretary and before he became World Bank president in 2005, told Reuters he was leaving to pursue other opportunities.

Kellems worked briefly for U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney as spokesman before he rejoined Wolfowitz at the World Bank in 2005 because of previous experience in development issues.

Aid Quits

3) Paul Wolfowitz’s closest aide was involved in crafting an apparently misleading public statement on the Shaha Riza secondment for dissemination by World Bank spokespeople on an anonymous basis, the Financial Times has found.

The disclosure regarding Robin Cleveland came from panel investigating #1 above….

Number 2 Aid in trouble

Then, for dessert, there’s the question about Wolfowitz’s own statements and how they are being covered, or not covered, as the case may be.