Fwd: Additional Questions

Dear Melanie,

I appreciated the time you took to talk to me on Monday. Below are some additional questions based on our conversation. Please respond to them in writing if possible, whenever you have a chance to sit down at a computer. And thank you again for taking the time. I am fully aware of how busy you are with your medical practice.

I told you that we would not endorse salacious rumor. I also told you that we did not intend to publish your name. That is and will remain true, unless dramatic evidence comes to light and makes us reconsider. But we are interested in how the WBG board handled allegations against JYK. Even if you believe those allegations were nothing more than a smear campaign, they were obviously concerning enough that they were brought to the ethics committee board. Our interest is in how the board handled those allegations, not whether they can be verified as true.

As such, it would be very helpful if you helped us understand some details about your travel. Again, this is not about whether an improper relationship did or did not occur: We make very clear that there is no evidence to that effect, and that it has been roundly denied. We do nothing to call those denials into question. But we are interested in some of the underlying questions that led to the allegation in the first place. In fact, to us, the question of a romantic affair between two consenting adults is utterly irrelevant. The question that matters is whether JYK exercised proper judgement and, also, whether he misused funds, or authorized such misuse by others.

Let's start with the Jeddah trip. 1) Can you tell me the purpose of the trip 2) Can you tell me how long you devoted to that purpose? 3) When you arrived in Jeddah, you posted a photograph from your Instagram account that was taken from Flickr. Why did you do that? 3) Did the World Bank know, prior to the trip, that you would be traveling to Southeast Asia from the Arabian Peninsula? 4) You said the trip was approved by your supervisor. Who was that?

You also told me that you did not frequently travel with JYK, but records show that in 2016, you travelled together on nine separate occasions. 1) If the mission of the PDU involved data transparency and public-facing accountability, as you told me on Monday, what was the purpose of these trips? Can you share your notes from any of these trips with me? 2) When you travelled to New York on June 26, 2016, why did you decide not to stay at the Renaissance in Westchester, moving instead to the Ritz Carlton in Manhattan? 3) On a number of occasions, you dined alone with JYK. Did you ever feel pressured to do so? Did you ever find him to be inappropriate? Did you ever feel uncomfortable traveling with him?

I very much hope these questions do not put you on a defensive. As I already said, your name does not appear in the article nor any identifying characteristics—your work at the PDU, your relationship to the Gates Foundation—that would allow anyone to identify you in any way. This is an investigation of JYK, not you. And it is an investigation of public deeds, not private behavior. As such, you could be tremendously helpful in helping to gain more clarity about JYK's tenure.

Thank you again for your willingness to work with me on this. It is deeply appreciated.

Alexander

Thank you.
Scrubbing now 40 minutes or so