RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
John Durham is the man tapped to investigate the CIA's destruction of tapes of the interrogations of terror suspects. It's a politically sensitive case that has Durham's critics and supporters looking back to another complicated and politically-charged case that he investigated. That case involved a former FBI agent tied to the mob. A notorious moment in FBI history. The agent, John Connolly, had cultivated two leaders of the south Boston mob and convinced them to become informants. Then he got too close.
One of those mobsters was James Whitey Bulger and Stephen The Rifleman Flemmi. He convinced them to become informants. Then he got too close.
One of those mobsters was James Whitey Bulger - who would eventually lend his name to the investigation into the FBI's ties to the mob. As federal prosecutor, John Durham handled that case.
NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has this look back.
DINA TEMPLE-RASTON: John Durham had worked with the FBI for years, prosecuting organized crime cases in Connecticut when former Attorney General Janet Reno asked him to lead a special federal investigative task force. She wanted him to look into the unusually close relationship between the mob and the FBI in Boston. Former FBI agent John Connolly ended up being a target in that probe.
Samuel Buell is a former assistant U.S. attorney who worked with Durham on that case.
Mr. SAMUEL BUELL (Former Assistant U.S. Attorney): Durham had a very strong case on John Connolly. He was clearly the most culpable individual involved in this. We had a former senior, very powerful FBI agent convicted of racketeering and sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. That is unprecedented.
TEMPLE-RASTON: From the start, prosecutors said there were other agents and police officials involved. But just how much corruption existed in Boston's law enforcement ranks never really came to light. The task force convicted just three people: Connolly, a Boston cop, and a state policeman.
Former FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick was in charge of the organized crime squad at the Boston Field Office at the time. He says Durham pulled his punches.
Mr. ROBERT FITZPATRICK (Former FBI Agent): We're left with the fact that Connolly did the whole thing. I find that ludicrous. I really do. I can't live with that. I can't live with the fact that Connolly was the only guy involved. And so we put Connolly in jail and the whole thing is over. I just don't believe that.
TEMPLE-RASTON: At the time, even U.S. Attorney Mike Sullivan seemed to suggest that Connolly was only the beginning. Here he is at a press conference right after Connolly's 2002 conviction.
Mr. MIKE SULLIVAN (U.S. Attorney): No, Connolly was not alone in the mishandling of informants and assisting them in carrying out these crimes. It makes Connolly no less responsible.
TEMPLE-RASTON: The other shoe never fell. Connolly was the only agent Durham ever convicted. Another agent died while awaiting trial. Durham promised a report detailing what he'd found, but it was never released. The Justice Department won't even confirm that they have received it.
Boston Police Detective Frank Dewan was in charge of the department's intelligence squad at the time. He says there could be lots of reasons why the report never surfaced.
Mr. FRANK DEWAN (Detective, Boston Police): Perhaps there are things that couldn't be corroborated that would smear people. Perhaps the statute of limitations had run out on people. You just don't know what's behind the scenes. I think that John would do whatever is right all the way around.
TEMPLE-RASTON: The unreleased report aside, Durham's reputation in Boston was that he went where the facts led him. During the Bulger investigation, he discovered secret FBI documents that indicated four men had been framed for murder and wrongly imprisoned. He turned the documents over to their lawyers. And a civil suit followed. The families of the men won a $101.7-million judgment against the government. Dewan says that bodes well for the CIA investigation.
Mr. DEWAN: John is a fine investigator and a man that's full of integrity. What he finds, he'll go after. And if it is not there, he won't go after it. I think he'll do things right down the line.
TEMPLE-RASTON: Durham has his work cut out for him. His latest case is about more than just the CIA possibly obstructing justice. Durham and a team of FBI investigators will end up putting the Bush administration's terrorism strategy under a microscope.
The FBI has been saying for months that harsh interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding or controlled drowning, don't work. Now, they are launching an investigation that may testify to that. Durham will be in the middle of a classic inside-the-Beltway political case.
Samuel Buell says that won't be a problem.
Mr. BUELL: Nothing gets dirtier and uglier than Boston politics. And the Bulger and Connolly matters were all tied up with Boston politics, both within law enforcement and within the state government. And John Durham was able to navigate his way, you know, quite successfully, through that. So I don't think that there is going to be anything about Washington that is going to catch him unawares.
TEMPLE-RASTON: Both civil liberties groups and members of Congress cautiously welcomed Durham's appointment. But what they really wanted was an independent prosecutor, and Durham won't be independent. He will be reporting his findings to the deputy attorney general at the Justice Department.
Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, Washington.