Bob Dole, who ran for the White House with an all-American resume, will be earning income stamped “Made in Taiwan.”
Dole registered last week with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for Taiwan. His law firm said he will work as an adviser and will not be lobbying his former colleagues in Congress.
“Sen. Dole does not intend to engage in any lobbying of members of Congress or the administration,” said additional registration papers filed Monday by Dole’s firm.
The 1996 Republican presidential candidate will provide “strategic advice and counseling,” said John Merrigan, a partner at Dole’s Washington law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand. He said the contract between the firm and Taiwan calls for payments of $30,000 a month.
On the campaign trail in October 1996, Dole criticized President Clinton and the Democratic Party for accepting illegal foreign donations.
At the end of the campaign, he assured voters that his “actions are not for sale to some foreign influence or some foreign interests.”
Dole did not return calls to his office Monday seeking comment.
The contract is with the Taiwanese government-controlled Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States. Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but U.S. diplomats deal with the island through the cultural office, which operates like an embassy.
China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province.
