Angry Wolfowitz in four-letter tirade

An angry and bitter Paul Wolfowitz poured abuse and threatened retaliations against senior World Bank staff if his orders for pay raises and promotions for his partner were revealed, according to new details published on May 14. Under fire for the lavish package given to Shaha Riza, a World Bank employee and Wolfowitz's girlfriend when he became president, an official investigation into the controversy has found that Wolfowitz broke bank rules and violated his own contract–setting off a struggle between US and European governments over Wolfowitz's future. In testimony by one key witness, Wolfowitz declares: "If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too." The remarks were published in a report detailing the controversy that erupted last month after the size of Riza's pay raises was revealed. The report slates Wolfowitz for his "questionable judgment and a preoccupation with self-interest," saying: "Mr. Wolfowitz saw himself as the outsider to whom the established rules and standards did not apply." The report brushed off Wolfowitz's defense that he thought he had been asked to arrange Riza's pay package, observing that "the interpretation given by Mr. Wolfowitz... simply turns logic on its head." The investigators have sent their completed report to the bank's governing board, containing a string of withering criticisms of Wolfowitz's behavior and casting doubt on his ability to continue running the bank, a multibillion-dollar international agency with 12,000 staff based in Washington. According to the report, Wolfowitz's actions "had a dramatic negative effect on the reputation and credibility" of the bank. It concluded that "the damage done to the reputation of the World Bank group" should lead the bank's board to "consider whether Mr. Wolfowitz will be able to provide the leadership needed to ensure that the bank continues to operate to the fullest extent possible." It also said: "Mr. Wolfowitz's contract requiring that he adhere to the code of conduct for board officials and that he avoid any conflict of interest, real or apparent, [was] violated." Despite the weeks of turmoil within the bank, Wolfowitz may still keep his job if the US government is prepared to stick by him. Wolfowitz still enjoys support from the Bush administration, where he served as deputy defense secretary at the Pentagon during the invasion of Iraq. On May 14, Vice President Dick Cheney defended Wolfowitz, saying: "Paul is one of the most able public servants I've ever known…. I think he's a very good president of the World Bank, and I hope he will be able to continue." US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was also said to be drumming up support for Wolfowitz, while European governments increasingly despair of US intransigence in allowing Wolfowitz to hang on. The angry comments attributed to Wolfowitz came from damning testimony by Xavier Coll, head of human resources at the bank, who provided investigators with his notes of a meeting with Wolfowitz last year. The notes directly contradict Wolfowitz's assertions that the details of Riza's treatment were properly shared with senior bank officials. In March last year, when a mention of Riza's temporary assignment outside the bank to avoid rules about partners was first published in the magazine US News & World Report, an angry Wolfowitz accused Coll of leaking the information. According to Coll's notes: "At the end of the conversation Mr. Wolfowitz became increasingly agitated and said that he was 'tired of people... attacking him' and 'you should get your friends to stop it.' Mr. Wolfowitz said: 'If they fuck me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too,'" naming several senior bank staff he felt were vulnerable. Wolfowitz appeared before the bank's executive board on May 15 to make a final defense of his actions, with the board meeting on May 16 to consider the report and make a statement later in the week. With Wolfowitz so far refusing to step down, the board may need to take radical action to break the stalemate. Members have discussed a range of options, including firing Wolfowitz, issuing a vote of no confidence or reprimanding him. Some board members argue that a vote of no confidence would make it impossible for him to stay in the job.