On Dec. 7, 2006, at the direction of senior Dept. of Justice (DoJ) officials, seven U.S. Attorneys (USAt) were told to resign from their positions. Two other USAt had been told to resign earlier in 2006. In 2007, two DoJ offices conducted an invest. into the removals of these USAt. It focused on the reasons for the removals of the USAt and whether they were removed for political purposes, or to influence an invest., or prosecution. The invest. also examined: the process by which the USAt were selected for removal, and sought to identify the persons involved in those decisions; whether the Attorney General made any false statements concerning the removals, and whether they attempted to influence the testimony of other witnesses. Illus.