Must be some sort of investigation pending....
He must have heard about the indictments coming down the pike.
I agree with both of you. I've never heard of a Democrat willingly retire from Congress. Something's up.
or it could be he resigned as part of a deal to avoid having something investigated publicly and pursued. This is believed to be the likely reason trent lott retired - rumor in jackson was that they had him on the phone with his brother-in-law in some way that tied him, even peripherally as in just talking about judges and their habits/preferences, to the scruggs case of bribing federal judges.