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Wolfowitz gears up for battle

Apr 24 2007

Wolfowitz gears up for battle

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Economy

By Agencies

Wolfowitz apologised for his mistake last week and said he would not pre-empt the bank's board [AFP]

The president of the World Bank has hired a prominent lawyer to help him fight to keep his job after being exposed for arranging a generous pay packet for his girlfriend employed at the bank.

Only last week Paul Wolfowitz apologised for his mistake and said he would accept and not pre-empt "any remedies" proposed by the bank's board.

The bank's board ordered a special panel on Friday to consider whether, among other things, Wolfowitz had properly handled the promotion of Shaha Riza to a high-paying job at the US State Department in 2005.

Wolfowitz retained Robert Bennett, a former federal prosecutor, the next day.

Job fight

Bennett said on Monday that he wanted "to be sure that he [Wolfowitz] receives appropriate treatment and fair treatment".

"I've reviewed all the material, all the relevant material, and it is absolutely clear to me that he acted in total good faith in this,'' he added.

Bennett said his client would fight to retain his job although the bank's staff association, former bank executives, some US Democrats and aid groups want him to resign.

"Mr Wolfowitz is not going to resign. He did not hire me to help him work out a separation agreement. He wants to do the job that he signed on for," Bennett said.

Seasoned lawyer

The special panel is to make recommendations to the 24-member World Bank board but it is unclear what action, if any, the board will take because it has been divided on the matter.

Bennett says his client acted in good faith [AP]

Bennett said he hopes he will have an opportunity "to make a presentation to them to prove beyond question that acted in absolute good faith and in the best interests of the bank".

He declined to say who is paying Wolfowitz's legal fees.

Bennett is a seasoned trial lawyer who has handled high-profile clients such as Bill Clinton, the former US president; two former defence secretaries, Clark Clifford and Caspar Weinberger; and more recently Judith Miller, the former New York Times reporter in the CIA leak investigation.

Documents released in the past two weeks show that Wolfowitz had a direct hand in securing the State Department job that pays Riza $193,590 a year.
Riza remains on the World Bank's payroll even though she left the State Department job in 2006 and now works for Foundation for the Future, an international organisation that gets some money from the department.