DSK Resigns From IMF

Bowing to the inevitable, Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned overnight as head of the IMF amidst high-level calls for his ouster in wake of a rape scandal.

Bowing to the inevitable, Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned overnight as head of the IMF amidst high-level calls for his ouster in wake of a rape scandal.

NYT (“Strauss-Kahn Resigns From I.M.F. in Wake of His Arrest“)

Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned Wednesday as head of the International Monetary Fund after explosive accusations that he had sexually attacked a housekeeper in a Midtown Manhattan hotel room.

“It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of managing director of the I.M.F.,” he said in a statement issued Wednesday, shortly after midnight, by the I.M.F. “I think at this time first of my wife — whom I love more than anything — of my children, of my family, of my friends.”

His resignation comes four days after Mr. Strauss-Kahn was taken off an Air France plane at Kennedy International Airport and arrested in connection with the accusations, and a day after Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, called for his resignation.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, had been expected to declare his candidacy for the French presidency soon. He was seen as one of the people figure most likely to oust President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In issuing his resignation Wednesday, Mr. Strauss-Kahn said, “I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me.”

My new Atlantic Council colleague, Julie Chon, argues that getting rid of DSK is just the first step and that serious reform of the selection process for IMF managing director is needed.

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James Joyner
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James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.