15 May 2007
Although Bush administration officials came to the President's defense in recent days, the White House has recently stated that "all options are on the table"
In spite of recent Bush administration statements supporting the President, in an interview with ABC news on Tuesday a senior White House official suggested a change in tide. "All options are on the table," the official remarked, and "it is an open question" whether Wolfowitz should continue as President. "If you don't have board support and you don't have staff support, it is hard to get anything done," the official said.
Reports are also surfacing that the State Department is investigating "anomalies in security vetting and legal complications in the transfer of Shaha Riza from the bank to its Middle East section," according to the Financial Times.
Earlier statements of support for Wolfowitz:
White House spokesman Tony Snow said at a press conference on Monday: "What we've said is, yeah, he made mistakes," Snow said. "That pretty much is obvious. On the other hand, it's not a firing offense."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently commented on the situation, saying: "It doesn't seem to be the kind of thing that you would want to see the dismissal of the World Bank president over," Rice said. "I hope it will be resolved in a way that is true to what really happened there but also strengthens the bank, which is a really important institution," she added.
Vice-President Dick Cheney said in an interview on Monday: "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."
Treasury Department spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said early this week that Henry Paulson believes the report by the bank panel "demonstrates that this was a unique situation, missteps occurred on all sides and communication may not have been clear enough."
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