Sessions signed an order appointing Durham to the position of interim U.S. Attorney (Connecticut) on October 28, 2017 (which coincidentally, was the date Q drops were first collected).
Trump nominated Durham to serve as U.S. Attorney on November 1, 2017 and Durham’s nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 16, 2018.
Meet the U.S. Attorney - John H. Durham
I agree with you, Sessions was not clueless. Neither was Trump nor the DOJ (nor Q).