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---
tags: ["Person", "Investigator", "Lawyer", "Government", "BCCI"]
---
Jack Blum is a former Senate investigator and chief counsel to Senator [[John Kerry]]'s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations. He is widely recognized for his tireless efforts in exposing the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]] scandal.[^1]
### Early Career and Government Service
Blum arrived in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1965, after graduating from Columbia Law School. He began his career as an investigator for Senator Phil Hart's antitrust subcommittee.[^2] His work caught the attention of Senator J. W. Fulbright, who moved him to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. By the mid-1970s, Blum had established himself as a permanent fixture in Washington, serving as counsel to Senator Frank Church's subcommittee on multinational corporations.[^3]
His investigations into the Lockheed payoff scandals led to significant political repercussions, including the toppling of a Japanese government, the imprisonment of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, and the abdication of the Queen of the Netherlands.[^4] He was a driving force behind the creation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Blum's questioning of former [[CIA]] Director [[Richard Helms]] in a closed-door session led to Helms's indictment for perjury.[^5]
In 1976, Blum entered private practice, where he remained for ten years. He re-entered the public sector in 1986 as special counsel to Senator John Kerry's subcommittee, where he spearheaded probes into drug trafficking.[^6]
### Role in the BCCI Investigation
Blum became deeply involved in the BCCI investigation after learning that the bank was at the epicenter of [[Manuel Noriega]]'s financial dealings.[^7] He pushed for a serious investigation into BCCI, but his efforts were initially brushed aside, leading him to believe there was a high-level cover-up.[^8]
He was a crucial source for journalists [[Jonathan Beaty]] and [[S. C. Gwynne]], providing them with critical information and insights into BCCI's global criminal empire. Blum revealed that BCCI secretly owned [[First American Bank]] and that [[Clark Clifford]] and [[Robert Altman]] had lied to U.S. banking regulators about this ownership.[^9] He also brought the BCCI case to the attention of Manhattan District Attorney [[Robert Morgenthau]], who then launched his own investigation.[^10]
## Footnotes
[^1]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 8.
[^2]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 23.
[^3]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 23.
[^4]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 23.
[^5]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 23.
[^6]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 24.
[^7]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 25.
[^8]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 26.
[^9]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 30.
[^10]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 32.
[^11]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 21.