<p>The U.S. attorney in Savannah is resigning next week.</p><p>Rick Thompson, who reportedly has open investigations on two high-profile Democrats, told staff members Friday he plans to return to private law practice, spokesman Dan Drake said.</p><p>Before President Bush appointed him as the chief prosecutor in the Southern District of Georgia 26 months ago, Thompson was a partner in the Vidalia law firm of McNatt, Green and Thompson.</p><p>Democrats have claimed that some of the 46-year-old Thompsons decisions were based on politics. In October 2002, he announced to the media that he had asked for records in the closed special investigation into allegations that former state Sen. Van Streat had agreed to help a prisoner in exchange for a campaign contribution.</p><p>Thompson acknowledged that he was a longtime friend of Streats Republican opponent, but he said neither politics nor that friendship influenced him.</p><p>A state Superior Court judge dismissed five felony charges against Streat at the request of a special prosecutor who said there was no proof that Streat made his efforts on behalf of the inmate in exchange for the donations. Although the charges were dismissed, Streat never recovered from the taint of scandal. He lost the election to Republican Sen. Tommie Williams.</p><p>Last spring, Democrats again accused Thompson of playing politics when his office began investigating whether House Speaker Terry Coleman, D-Eastman, had used campaign contributions to pay personal expenses.</p><p>Thompsons office also reportedly is investigating various businesses owned by former Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker, an Augusta Democrat.</p><p>Drake said Friday that he could not confirm or deny the existence of such investigations, much less the status of them.</p>
