January 19, 2007 Senator Dianne Feinstein first calls foul on the ouster of attorneys -- two from California, Lam and Ryan.

U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan, who announced his resignation Tuesday after 4 1/2 years as the top federal prosecutor in coastal Northern California, actually was fired by the Bush administration, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday.

The California Democrat made her assertion at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing while questioning Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about federal prosecutors who have been recently removed by President Bush. [source]

January 26, 2007: McClatchy reports on the filing of legislation by Conyers and Feinstein

In the wake of the recent firings of a half-dozen U.S. attorneys, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, filed bills that would restore to federal judges the right to name interim appointees when vacancies develop. On Thursday, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., whose office has confirmed that he inserted language making the change in Patriot Act last year, gave his qualified support to Feinstein's bill.

February 6, 2007 Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[I]n this Administration U.S. Attorneys are never—repeat, never— removed, or asked or encouraged to resign, in an effort to retaliate against them, or interfere with, or inappropriately influence a particular investigation, criminal prosecution, or civil case. Any suggestion to the contrary is unfounded, and it irresponsibly undermines the reputation for impartiality the Department has earned over many years and on which it depends.

February 22, 2007 Margaret Chiara, US Attorney in Michigan, announces to her office that her resignation has been requested and that she is resigning, effective March 16, 2006

March 1, 2007 The Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law issued subpoenas for HE "Bud" Cummins, David Iglesias, John McKay and Carol Lam.

Democrats issued their first major subpoenas yesterday since taking control of Congress, as a House subcommittee voted to compel testimony from four former U.S. attorneys who were part of a wave of firings by the Justice Department. [source]

March 4, 2007 Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico releases a statement that he spoke with US Attorney Iglesias weeks before his resignation was requested. He characterized his interest in the high profile investigation of a state Democrat as follows: "I asked Mr. Iglesias if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation and give me an idea of what timeframe we were looking at".

March 5, 2007 Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico acknowledged that she too had contacted US Attorney Iglesias. She reported that the call was “brief and professional” and that she wanted him to “have the opportunity to clear his name”

March 5, 2007 Michael Battle resigns source

March 5, 2007 Big one from Eric Lichtblau in the NYT -

The former federal prosecutor in Maryland said Monday that he was forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates of the state's governor, a Republican.

"There was direct pressure not to pursue these investigations," said the former prosecutor, Thomas M. DiBiagio. "The practical impact was to intimidate my office and shut down the investigations."