Pentagon reviewing '03 contract for Wolfowitz's companion

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is reviewing a 2003 contract that went to a World Bank employee and companion to Paul Wolfowitz, then the No. 2 official at the Defense Department.

Spokesman Bryan Whitman said Wednesday that the department is "having to go back and look at the paper trail" because some people who were with the department at the time of the contract have left. He stopped short of calling it an investigation.

Whitman's comments come after Science Applications International Corp., a large defense contractor, said it was directed to hire Shaha Riza, who at the time worked as a communications adviser in the bank's Middle East Department.

The flap has provoked cries of favoritism and outrage from many World Bank employees, who want Wolfowitz to resign. Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and various aid groups are among those calling for Wolfowitz to step down. Critics say he has tarnished the bank's reputation.

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