A person familiar with the vote tells The Associated Press that the executive directors of the Inter-American Development Bank voted unanimously to fire a former Trump official.
According to a report obtained by The Associated Press, Mauricio Claver- Carone violated ethics rules by favoring a top aide with whom he had a romantic relationship.
The recommendation to remove Claver- Carone came in a closed-door meeting of the bank's 14 executive directors. The Board of Governors is made up of finance officials from all 48 of the bank's member nations.
The Biden administration was troubled by Claver- Carone's refusal to cooperate with an independent probe.
The Treasury Department said that his creation of aclimate of fear of retaliation among staff and borrowing countries has forfeited the confidence of the Bank's staff and shareholders.
Claver- Carone said in a statement that replacing him would embolden China, which joined the bank during the obama administration.
He said it was shameful that the U.S. commented to the press before notifying him and that it was not defending two Americans against what is clearly fabricated information.
A law firm was hired by the bank to look into an anonymous complaint of wrongdoing against Claver- Carone.
He had a relationship with his chief of staff when both were on the National Security Council. One U.S. official warned that the relationship posed a counter intelligence risk.
Exhibit A in the 21-page report is a "contract" that was drawn up on the back of a place mat by the two while they were dining at a steak house. The annual meeting of the Organization of American States was attended by both people.
They have a plan for divorcing their spouses and marrying each other. Any failure to fulfill the terms would bring "sadness and heartbreak" that could only be mitigated by "candle wax and a naughty box" from an oceanfront hotel in Claver- Carone's native Miami.
We should be happy. According to the contract, a photo of which was provided to investigators by the woman's former husband, he found a place mat in her purse when she came back from the trip.
Claver- Carone is fighting to save his job because of the contract that is in the report. He is accused of having a 1 a.m. hotel room rendezvous with his chief of staff, sending her a poem on a Sunday morning, and giving her 40% pay raises in violation of the bank's conflict of interest.
He has denied having a romantic relationship with his right hand.
The report said that his chief of staff denied the allegations and told investigators that she never violated the IDB's code of ethics. She complained that she had not been given due process.
The AP isn't naming Claver- Carone's aide because the report isn't public.
The final investigative report has not been given to Claver- Carone or any other staff member.
The World Bank's former head, Paul Wolfowitz, resigned in 2007, after he arranged a generous pay raise for his girlfriend.
The Inter-American Development Bank disburses as much as $23 billion a year to help alleviate poverty in Latin America.
The more salacious claims in the report could not be substantiated. The law firm found no evidence that Claver- Carone broke the bank's travel policies to cover up a romantic relationship or retaliated against any bank employees.
Claver- Carone and his chief of staff were criticized by Davis Polk for violating bank policies and principles.
Claver- Carone failed to hand over his bank-issued mobile phone for analysis, despite the fact that he provided a forensic report. Claver- Carone didn't share his personal phone or email messages with his staff.
It would be reasonable to conclude that the evidence of a prior relationship, and the additional circumstantial evidence of a current relationship while they were both at the Bank, are a violation of the applicable Bank policies.
Claver- Carone raised his aide's pay by 40% within a year, according to the report. One of the raises and a change of title was ordered by Claver- Carone after she complained about not getting enough respect from her co-workers.
You know what to do. The report states that she wrote that it was her bank.
Claver-Carone was faulted by Davis Polk for making employment decisions about someone with whom it believes he had a romantic relationship. The chief of staff's current salary of $420,000 is in line with her predecessor's, it said.
Claver- Carone denied signing the document when confronted with photographs of it during an interview. The document was part of a plan by the aide's ex- husband to harm her.
In a letter to the bank's general counsel, divorce lawyers for the chief of staff said her former husband had a history of revenge and cruel behavior during their marriage. He should not have given investigators any evidence at all.
Two handwriting experts, one of whom worked for the FBI, concluded that the handwriting on the place mat was likely that of Claver- Carone. Claver- Carone refused to give a handwriting sample as part of the investigation.
Fatima Hussein is a writer for The Associated Press.
The person is Joshua Goodman on the social networking site.
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