John Durham – meticulous prosecutor, thorough investigator, corruption fighter – is currently serving as Special Counsel investigating the probe into the now-debunked Russian collusion allegations of the Trump family. Durham has been praised for his tenacity and professionalism throughout this particular investigation, with few, if any, leaks of information to the media. Durham boasts over four decades in the legal field, and Time magazine has noted his nonpartisan professionalism.
| Celebrated Name: | John Durham |
| Real Name/Full Name: | John Henry Durham |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age: | 71 |
| Birthdate: | March 16, 1950 |
| Birthplace: | Boston, MA |
| Nationality: | American |
| Height: | 5 ft. 10 in. |
| Weight: | 187 lb. |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Wife/Spouse | Susan Durham |
| Children/Kids: | 4 sons (as Durham is notoriously private, little is known about the boys) |
| Dating/Girlfriend Name: | N/A |
| Is John Durham Gay? | No |
| Highest Political Office: | Special Counsel, District Attorney |
| Profession: | Attorney |
| Colleges Attended: | Colgate University; University of Connecticut Law School |
| Degrees: | Bachelor of Arts – Colgate (no concentration known); Juris Doctor (UC Law School) |
| Salary: | As a district attorney, Durham likely earned $73,000 annually; his salary as the Special Counsel is unknown |
| Net Worth in 2021: | S1.5 million |
Biography: Early Life and Family
John Durham is a native of Boston, MA. He was born on March 16, 1950. Durham is, according to CNN, very “press-shy,” and he is very private. Therefore, many details regarding his early life are unknown.
Durham attended Colgate University, in Hamilton, NY. This is a private university, known for liberal arts studies. Most reports show that Durham graduated with honors, but it is unknown exact what his major study was.
Durham would later enroll in the University of Connecticut Law School, where he earned a Juris Doctor degree.
Personal Life
Durham’s quiet demeanor lends little public knowledge of his personal life. His wife is Susan (no maiden name revealed), and public information shows that he has four sons as well as eight grandchildren with his wife.
Durham was described by a fellow attorney as “tireless, fair, and aggressive.” This is evident in his handling of the current Trump-Russian collusion investigation; very rarely are any details of the case released, and they are hardly ever leaked. The public learns information from court filings submitted by Durham, who even utilizes highly professional methods of identifying witnesses by using a professional title or some other moniker that does not identify the individual (for instance, Durham will use “Tech Executive 1” to describe a person rather than a given name).
An American Senator once described Durham as “tough-nosed, apolitical, and serious.”
Age, Height, and Weight
John Durham is 71 years old. He is 5′ 10″ in height, and he weighs approximately 187 lbs.
Net Worth
John Durham is said to have a net worth of $1.5 million as of 2022.
Throughout Durham’s career, he has worked in both state and federal government. He has been appointed a special investigator by the federal government as well.
Durham has been appointed as a special investigator in a number of high profile cases, specifically, the Whitey Bulger case. He has also investigated corruption, and torture techniques utilized on detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. It is likely he was paid well for these special assignments.
Durham’s career spans nearly fifty years, and it is certain he earned pensions and other compensation as a federal prosecutor as well. However, little else is known about Durham’s personal wealth.
Career Outside of Politics
John Durham volunteered with the VISTA program (Volunteers in Service to America), which provided a number of services to those in impoverished areas. Durham volunteered on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. His exact work in this capacity is unknown.
Durham’s first job in the legal work was working in the Connecticut state government. He was initially a Deputy Assistant State Attorney serving in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney in Connecticut. After in one year in this position, Durham would then move to the Assistant State’s Attorney position in the New Haven, Connecticut office of the Connecticut State’s Attorney.
Career in Politics
Ironically, most of Durham’s career has been spent in the United States government, whether he was a United States Attorney, a Chief of the Criminal Division (for a District Attorney office), a supervisor for a District Attorney’s field office. Yet, many legal experts as well as political pundits describe him as possessing an apolitical reputation.
In 2019, however, CNN said his apolitical reputation was on the line once then United States Attorney William Barr tapped Durham to head an investigation into the Trump-Russian collusion probe. Several years later, however, Durham always appears quiet, professional, and definitely apolitical.
Durham had spent five years as a state prosecutor before he went to work for the United States Attorney General’s office (District of Connecticut). At that time, he was both a supervisor as well as a lawyer at the New Haven Field Office. In particular, Durham worked as a part of the Boston Strike Force. This particular office investigated and prosecuted organized crime, especially racketeering.
Durham’s time prosecuting mafia-related crimes would come in handy when, in 1999, then-Attorney General Janet Reno chose John Durham to investigate whether James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen Flemmi, both gangsters turned FBI informants, had been able to corrupt their FBI handlers. Durham supervised an FBI task force that was brought in to investigate. Durham would be responsible for the successful prosecution of John J. Connolly, Jr. (Connolly’s story with Bulger was immortalized on film in Black Mass).
Along with investigating Connolly, Durham’s FBI team gathered evidence regarding a retired agent, H. Paul Rico. Rico’s case never went to trial; Rico passed away before it could be done.
By 1994, Durham had become a Deputy United States Attorney General. At times, he would serve as an interim United States Attorney General.
Proving once more his apolitical reputation, John Durham would successfully investigate and convince a judge to overturn the conviction of Enrico Tameleo, Peter Limone, Joseph Salvate, and Louis Greco, whom Durham discovered had been framed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately, two of the men had died in prison during this time. Durham’s investigation turned up evidence, however, that was used by the men’s families to win a multi-million dollar settlement for wrongful conviction.
Durham has proven time and again to be effective in bringing convictions on those associated with the New England Mafia. These convictions were in Connecticut, where he was serving the U.S. Attorney General’s office. The Patriarca family, who chiefly made up the New England Mafia, had “territory” in Eastern Connecticut, where Durham was prosecutor. The most prominent member of the New England Mafia was Peter Limone. An underboss was the aforementioned Enrico Tameleo, whom was also wrongfully convicted (and Durham had his sentence overturned).
Durham was asked to be the special prosecutor for another major corruption case – this time involving the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes. He was appointed by Michael Mukasey to investigate whether tapes had been destroyed after interrogations. He investigated this allegation for over two years before he closed the case. Durham would not recommend any criminal charges be filed. However, even though the report was intended to remain secret, report Charlie Savage attempted to use FISA in order to see the results of Durham’s investigation, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
During the Barack Obama Administration, Durham was appointed by Eric Holder to investigate accusations of torture detainees at Gitmo in order to gather intelligence. It is notable, however, that Durham was only commissioned to look at investigations that “had gone beyond the officially sanctioned guidelines.” Holder told Durham that interrogators acting in “good faith” based on Bush Justice Department Torture Memos were not to be prosecuted. The deaths of two different Gitmo detainees were investigated, but, when the investigation was complete, no charges were filed.
Durham also spent time prosecuting corrupt politicians. One such notable case was that of John G. Rowland. He was a former governor of Connecticut, and he was found guilty on a number of corruption charges, many of which were prosecuted by Durham.
Interestingly enough, one of the corruption charges against Rowland had to do with election fraud.
Between 2008 and 2012, Durham took his legal expertise to Virginia, where he served as a United States Attorney in the Eastern district. By 2017, however, Durham was appointed by Donald Trump to become the U.S Attorney for Connecticut.
He would be sworn in to this position by 2018, but, within one year, Durham would be tapped for the current investigation in which he is heading – that of the origins of the Trump-Russian collusion probe. The collusion accusations were part of the basis for a number of FISA warrants which allowed government entities to gather intelligence on the Trump family and its organization. It would also lead to the first Trump impeachment.
After being asked by the Biden Administration to resign, John Durham left his United States Attorney in February 2021. Durham, along with fifty-six others nominated to similar positions by President Trump, was a part of the shake-up at the request of Joe Biden.
Durham has been rather quiet but professional regarding his current case. Since late 2021, two major indictments have been handed down – one for a Russian operative who is said to be the source of the Steele Dossier and Attorney Michael Sussman. Sussman was indicted on charges of providing false statements to the FBI, but, Sussman’s name is back in the headlines again as a Durham court filing alleges that Sussman took manipulated traffic supposedly from Trump Tower and later the White House to the FBI inferring there was a connection between the Trump Organization and Russian government.
Americans anxiously await further Durham findings, and experts say that there is “much more to come” regarding Durham’s investigation. While Durham characteristically keeps a low profile and rarely speaks to the press, Americans anticipate his investigation’s further findings.
