WASHINGTON - Michael A. Battle, formerly the top federal prosecutor in Buffalo and now a senior official at the U.S. Department of Justice, called several U.S. attorneys from across the country Dec. 7 and gave them some unusual bad news.

It was time for them to resign.

Little noticed at the time, the unprecedented purge of eight of the nation’s 94 U.S. attorneys has caused a huge uproar in Washington that is culminating today in hearings on both sides of Capitol Hill. Democrats are alleging that the fired prosecutors, Republicans all, lost their jobs for political reasons.

Meanwhile, Battle on Monday announced that he plans to leave the Justice Department for private practice but stressed that his resignation was not connected to the controversial personnel changes.

Asked why he was resigning, Battle said, “Opportunity.” He will be joining Washington office of Fulbright & Jaworski, a top international law firm.

But Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat who has taken the lead in questioning the purge of prosecutors, isn-t so sure about Battle’s motives.

“This raises another question about a subject where there are already too many unanswered questions,” Schumer said. “While Mike Battle, a man of integrity, must issue the customary denial, the timing of his resignation asks whether he’s another casualty of the U.S. attorneys imbroglio.”

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