This resembles "1, no-trump" in bridge: she's not blonde & she's alive.

That was politics. On both sides.

This is politics. On both sides.

Bank employees were generally critical of Mr. Wolfowitz's appointment two years ago, focusing on his role as an architect of the Iraq war. They have also accused him of relying on a small group of advisers brought from the Pentagon.

In an extraordinary statement to staff that did not mention the name of his Libyan-born partner, Shaha Riza, Wolfowitz accepted "full responsibility" over the case but said he had "acted on the advice" of the bank's ethics committee.

The the anonymous lie:

A senior bank official had earlier told the FT: "After consultation with the then general counsel, the ethics committee of the board approved an external assignment agreement."

Mr Melkert's spokesman challenged this explanation, stating that the members of the committee "were not aware of, nor did they approve, the details of the agreement".

The spokesman for Mr Melkert also took issue with the official's claim that the board had "instructed" Mr Wolfowitz to resolve the issue of what would happen to Ms Riza, who under bank rules could not work for her partner, through an external assignment.

Mr Melkert's spokesman said: "The role of the ethics committee is to advise on issues of integrity, not to mandate."

Meanwhile, Roberto Danino, the bank's then general counsel, told the FT: "I categorically deny that I was involved in any way in the implementation of the ethics committee advice to the president regarding the Shaha Riza matter."