January 13, 2008 Prosecutor Who Unraveled Corruption in Boston Turns to C.I.A. Tape Case By <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/neil_a_lewis/i ndex.html?inline=nyt-per> NEIL A. LEWIS New York Times WASHINGTON - In 1999, John H. Durham, a federal prosecutor based in Connecticut, was assigned to wade into a seemingly impenetrable and corrupt network in Boston involving police officers, federal agents and organized crime figures. Sometime this month, Mr. Durham will begin a new assignment, this time setting up in Washington to delve into another arena of complexity and concealment, the <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/central _intelligence_agency/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Central Intelligence Agency. As the recently named head of the investigation into the C.I.A.'s destruction of videotapes of secret interrogations, Mr. Durham will again be the outsider trying to apply a straightforward law enforcement template to a complex set of relationships and practices. A career prosecutor, he had been dispatched to Boston years ago by a Democratic attorney general, <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/janet_reno/ind ex.html?inline=nyt-per> Janet Reno. This month, he was summoned to Washington by a Republican attorney general, <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/michael_b_muka sey/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Michael B. Mukasey. Michael Clark, a former <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal _bureau_of_investigation/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who worked with him for years in Connecticut, said that Mr. Durham's experiences in unraveling the corrupt relationships in Massachusetts as well as in convicting public officials in Connecticut, including former Gov. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/john_g_rowland /index.html?inline=nyt-per> John G. Rowland, demonstrate why his methods may be well suited to his new task. Mr. Clark, now first selectman in Farmington, Conn., said that the investigation of Mr. Rowland was fraught with political pitfalls and detours. "John' s style is dogged and focused," Mr. Clark said. "Because he is so intent on following the facts, he refused to become involved in any political dimension or detour." He said Mr. Durham was undeterred by "certain roadblocks people wanted to put in the way." Mr. Rowland ultimately pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and was sentenced to a year in jail. As the senior career prosecutor in the office of United States attorney in Connecticut, Mr. Durham also oversaw the convictions of Mayors Joseph Ganim, of Bridgeport, on federal corruption charges, and <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/philip_a_giord ano/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Philip A. Giordano of Waterbury, on charges of having sex with minors. But he is best known for overseeing the federal government's successful effort to take apart the brazenly corrupt situation in Boston, where a handful of crooked state police officers and F.B.I. agents worked with the mob headed by James Bulger. The situation, some of which was based on relationships forged during childhood in South Boston, was the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film "The Departed." Mr. Durham headed a task force that compiled a list of impressive accomplishments and convictions, including its disclosure that some F.B.I. officials had allowed some informants to commit murder and flourish in their racketeering enterprises in exchange for information about other mobsters. He has been and remains, by all accounts, a man of moderation and some modesty. During his assignment in Boston, he relinquished the title of first assistant in the United States attorney's New Haven office, demoting himself, because he was spending so much time away from Connecticut. Jeffrey Meyer, a law professor at <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/q/quinnip iac_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Quinnipiac University who worked as a junior prosecutor under Mr. Durham, described him as both stringent and fair in his approach to cases. Professor Meyer recalled that when he went to work in the office, he excitedly told Mr. Durham of what he thought was a strong criminal case. Mr. Durham, he said, gently disagreed and proceeded in the kindest terms to remind him of the obligations of prosecutors to consider mitigating circumstances and to use their authority carefully. Friends also attribute to Mr. Durham a kind of asceticism, which they connect to his Catholicism. Edmund Mahony, a veteran Connecticut reporter, wrote in The Hartford Courant that despite Mr. Durham's devotion to the church, he was once so outraged when a priest testified as a character witness for a convicted <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/k/ku_klux _klan/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Ku Klux Klan member that he complained to the bishop. Mr. Durham, 57, became a prosecutor after graduating in 1975 from the <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/univers ity_of_connecticut/index.html?inline=nyt-org> University of Connecticut law school and a two-year detour as a Vista volunteer providing legal advice on a Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. In the Connecticut state's attorney's office, Mr. Durham helped pioneer the technique of selecting habitual criminals for closer scrutiny by the prosecutor's office. Mr. Durham does not often speak publicly and declined to be interviewed for this article. The assignment of Mr. Durham to the investigation by Mr. Mukasey signaled that the Justice Department had concluded, at least on a preliminary basis, that C.I.A. officers, possibly along with other government officials, may have committed criminal acts in their handling of tapes that recorded the interrogations in 2002 of two operatives of <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/al_qaed a/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Al Qaeda. The tapes were destroyed in 2005 and had never been provided to the courts or to the special commission examining the Sept. 11 attacks. In an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Wednesday, <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/thomas_h_kean/ index.html?inline=nyt-per> Thomas H. Kean and <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/lee_h_hamilton /index.html?inline=nyt-per> Lee H. Hamilton, the chairman and vice chairman of the commission, said they believed that C.I.A. officials had deliberately withheld the tapes from the commission and that by doing so officials may have violated federal law. Mr. Mukasey was praised for his choice of Mr. Durham, although some Democrats in Congress were disappointed that he will have less expansive authority than a special counsel like <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/patrick_j_fitz gerald/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who investigated the disclosure of the identity of <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/valerie_plame/ index.html?inline=nyt-per> Valerie Wilson, a C.I.A. officer. That inquiry resulted in the perjury and obstruction prosecution of <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/i_lewis_libby_ jr/index.html?inline=nyt-per> I. Lewis Libby Jr., formerly Vice President <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/dick_cheney/in dex.html?inline=nyt-per> Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Another issue that remains unclear is whether the Justice Department's investigation under Mr. Durham's direction will be limited to the tapes' destruction or will also extend to whether the interrogation methods violated laws against torture. . <http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359714/grpId=11648958/grpspId=1705447214/msgI d=52903/stime=1200240539/nc1=3848614/nc2=3848644/nc3=4990216> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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