The stunning sexual assault case against the French IMF chief

The IMF board’s forbearance contrasts with the way the World Bank pushed out American Paul Wolfowitz as bank president on the pretext that he had secured a raise for his girl friend, though Mr. Wolfowitz had kept bank officials informed from start to finish and had not violated bank policy. The boards of both institutions are dominated by Europeans, who deployed a double standard for Mr. Strauss-Kahn as one of their own.

Especially pungent in retrospect is the report by a consultant to the board at the time that “going forward” the IMF should consider whether its managing director should be held to a “higher standard of conduct” than the staff. A. Shakour Shaalan, the longest-serving member of the board, announced at the time that he had personally told Mr. Strauss-Kahn that “this should not happen again.”…

The charges are roiling France, where Mr. Strauss-Kahn was the favorite to be the Socialist nominee for President next year and was even leading in the polls against Nicolas Sarkozy. The French are legendary for nonchalance toward the sexual appetites of their politicians, and they sniffed at Americans who disapproved of Bill Clinton when he lied under oath about sex. But we doubt even the French will be blasé about assaulting a hotel chamber maid.