Justice Department funds to pay for his wife's expensive carriage. Williams had drawn on Justice Department funds, replaced by himself, when banks suspended payment on checks during the Panic of 1873. Sen. Conkling believed under the circumstances the nomination should be revoked. In December 1873, after previously reporting the nomination to the Senate with a favorable recommendation, the Senate Judiciary Committee held two days of closed-door hearings concerning the controversy. This was the first recorded instance in which formal hearings are known to have been held on a Supreme Court nominee by a Senate committee. On January 9, 1874, an angered President Grant sent the Senate a letter that withdrew Williams's name from nomination. Honored by New York Bar (1874) On January 31, 1874, prominent members of the New York Bar and Bench attend a reception given by Col. Eliott F. Shepard in honor of U.S. Attorney General Williams. The extravagantly lighted party took place on No. 10 East 44 Street in New York from 8 pm to 10 pm. Williams had initially visited New York on vacation for a reunion with old friends. The Bernstein Band performed a series of popular musical opera arrangements. Prominent New York judges attended, including Justice Louis B. Woodruff and Justice Noah Davis. Almost 800 persons showed up in attendance including a future President, Collector of New York, Chester A. Arthur. Resignation and corruption (1875) President Grant forced Williams to resign in April 1875 upon a rumor in Washington, D.C., that Williams's wife had accepted $30,000 in payment in order for Williams to drop litigation against alleged fraudulent activities of a New York mercantile house Pratt & Boyd. Also under scrutiny was Williams’ wife’s purchase using government money of an expensive carriage in Washington, which she had equipped with liveried coachman and footman. Williams had also commingled his personal accounts with those of the Justice Department, paying personal checks using government money, although he made repayment. One of Grant's reforming cabinet members Postmaster Marshall Jewell, informed Grant Congress was planning a formal investigation into William's Justice Department. Senator Roscoe Conkling, Grant's ally in the U.S. Senate, had asked Grant that Att. Gen. Williams step down from office. William's resigned office, and Grant appointed reformer and famous New York lawyer Edwards Pierrepont for his replacement. Pierrepont made extensive investigations into the conduct of the U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals in the Southern states, exposing fraud