Thanks, Southack. I remember Blum's role in that but I didn't know he was currently on Kerry's staff--interesting. A couple left-wing books promoting the drug conspiracy theories (Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall,
Cocaine Politics; Ross Gelbspan,
Break-Ins, Death Threats and the FBI) mention that prior to joining Kerry's staff, Blum was counsel to
the International Center for Development Policy (aka International Center for Development Policy in Washington), a leftist think tank headed by Carter's former US ambassador to El Salvador Robert White. The Center played a major role in assisting Kerry's drug-allegation investigation and other investigations against the Contras, and it was under surveillance by the FBI and Oliver North. Also belonging to the Center were Lindsay Mattison, who agreed to finance Kerry's investigation of allegations of Contra gun-running in Miami; and David McMichael, a disgruntled CIA agent who resigned over Agency opposition to the Sandinistas and was under FBI surveillance at the same time the Bureau was investigating Kerry for possible links to Nicaraguan intelligence.
A note to add to my last post. In S. Stephen Powell,
Covert Cadre, the International Center for Development Policy is indexed under "Center for Development Policy", which reveals some additional information:
237: "The Center for Development Policy (CDP), also conceived by Lindsay Mattison, was founded in 1977. CDP and IPS [Institute for Policy Studies] participate fully in each other's activities. CDP has been extremely successful in organizing disaffected U.S. officials and military personnel and arranging opportunities for them to testify before Congress, with full press coverage."
Also note this of CDP cofounder Mattison:
236: "The Center for International Policy (CIP) was formed in 1975 by Lindsay Mattison, with Orlando Letelier's help. . .CIP operates under the aegies of the Fund for Peace, with support from Rubin Foundation, the Ruth Mott Fund, and the Stern Fund. . .Susan Weber, an early staff member, was previously registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an employee of the Soviet embassy to copyedit Soviet Life."