A little follow-up on Doug Paal's nomination to serve as AIT Director in Taipei.

Earlier this week, in a letter dated March 4th, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) sent a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell telling the Secretary:

The February 21st article in The New Republic regarding Douglas Paal leads me to express my deep concern about his potential appointment to direct the American Institute in Taiwan.

Later he writes that the "assertions made in The New Republic ... warrant further inquiry."

Helms goes on to request Powell's personal response to four questions he outlines based on issues raised in the New Republic article.

A copy of the letter has now been added to the TPM Document Collection.