>>14955891 John Durham lecture audio March 2018
Youtube video of Johns speech, the introduction was very interesting:
U.S. Attorney Durham tells mob tales during rare lecture
United States Attorney John H. Durham has kept such a low profile while handling some of the country's most infamous criminal investigations that he once made New Republic magazine's list of Washington's "most powerful, least famous people."
Durham "made his bones," as he would say, prosecuting mobsters, corrupt federal agents and former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland. He's been tapped by United States attorneys general to investigate topics as touchy as alleged torture and coverups during CIA investigations.
The 67-year-old Groton resident, nominated as Connecticut's top federal prosecutor by President Donald Trump and endorsed by Republicans and Democrats alike, has confined most of his public speaking to within the four walls of federal courtrooms.
As the state's U.S. attorney, Durham takes on administration duties over the state's 68 federal prosecutors and 50-odd staff members who work in courthouses in Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford. He plans to continue trying cases and has a murder trial coming up later this year.
A week after being sworn in, Durham, perhaps realizing that his new role calls for higher visibility, delivered a lecture at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, a formerly all-female school that is going all co-ed this year and ratcheting up its criminal justice program.
For about an hour this past Monday, he regaled an audience with an insider's view of the widely publicized investigations that brought down mobsters James "Whitey" Bulger, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi and their corrupted FBI handler, Special Agent John Connolly Jr. It was a case that extended into Connecticut, where gambling venues for the sport jai alai were infiltrated by Bulger's Winter Hill Gang.
Bodies had been piling up in Boston throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and by 1999, after it became clear that members of Boston's FBI bureau had been compromised by the Irish and Italian mafia, Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh called on Durham and others from Connecticut to help.
"It was quite the scandal that was going up there in Boston," Durham told the audience at St. Joseph's. "We were asked to go up there because we had some familiarity with the New England LCN (La Cosa Nostra) and knew some of the judges and the investigators and so forth. So the Justice Task Force was formed to investigate corruption involving the FBI and others."
Durham's longtime partner in crime-fighting, Deputy Chief State's Attorney Leonard C. Boyle, introduced the U.S. attorney to the university gathering as the person members of the Connecticut bar call when stumped by a legal question. Boyle said Durham has "an extreme work ethic" and is working all the time, whether in the office or at home.
Boyle said Durham has an uncanny ability to identify the smallest of facts in a case "and weave it together into a tapestry of detail," but joked that Durham's skill does not extend to his attire. Durham has a tendency to mismatch his suit jackets and trousers, Boyle said, and it's only when he's standing in a courtroom, addressing a jury, "when he realizes that particular day he wore the gray striped jacket with the Navy-blue pants."
Boyle seemed as amazed as anyone that his friend had agreed to the speaking engagement, since Durham is “notoriously shy about speaking about himself or what he does."
The University of St. Joseph's affiliation with the Catholic church may have helped.
"Other than an overwhelming commitment to the cause of justice, the two great devotions of John's life are his Catholic faith and his family," Boyle said. The Courant has reported several times that Durham also is an avid Red Sox fan.
Durham and his wife, Susan, have four sons — two of them prosecutors — and eight grandchildren.
Durham's lecture, delivered along with a PowerPoint presentation entitled "The Use of Informants: A Cautionary Tale," contained hints of his own restrained approach to investigations. Using criminals to gather information about other criminals is a necessity in cases where the average citizen is justifiably scared but,at best, is a "double-edged sword," Durham said.
https://www.theday.com/article/20180310/NWS12/180319936