Bob Dole Helped Taiwan With Trump Contacts Over 6-Month Period, Document Says
— -- A new federal disclosure document indicates that former senator and presidential nominee Bob Dole facilitated contact between Taiwanese officials and members of Donald Trump’s campaign and transition teams over a six-month period this year.
Trump's phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen last week sparked controversy because it marked a break with decades of U.S. policy on China and Taiwan.
Dole and his law firm Alston & Bird, worked on behalf of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative (TECRO) to arrange for a series of meetings between Trump advisers and Taiwanese officials, according to documents filed last week with the Department of Justice.
The disclosure form -- required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act -- indicates Dole “arranged a telephone briefing with Trump campaign policy director” and “convened a meeting between embassy staff and Trump transition team.”
In addition to these encounters, Dole helped Taiwan secure favorable language in the Republican Party’s platform and arranged for a meeting between Sen. Jeff Sessions, who was eventually named Trump’s pick for attorney general, and Taiwan’s representative to the U.S., Stanley Kao.
The disclosure does not detail whether Dole set up last week’s telephone call.
The disclosure shows TECRO paid Alston & Bird $140,000 for their services from May to October.
The Wall Street Journal reported a transition official said Dole arranged for the phone call between Trump and Taiwan’s President. Dole told the WSJ in an interview that his firm played a role in arranging the phone call. “It’s fair to say that we may have had some influence,” Dole said.
A spokesman for Dole declined to comment on the Taiwan matter when asked by ABC News. TECRO has also declined to comment on the reports.
Dole’s firm was required to disclose its work for TECRO based on a federal law, which “requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make period public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal."
ABC News' Alana Abramson, Ben Siegel and Ali Rogin contributed reporting.
