Free Republic

Edwards gave loan to a federal judgeConflict issue arose as senator’s spouse played role in caseBy Geoff Earle In 1994, when Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) was still the biggest tort lawyer in North Carolina, he lent $30,000 to a federal bankruptcy judge who was then overseeing a case on which Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth, did much of the legal work. The judge, J. Rich Leonard, is a longtime friend of Edwards’s. Edwards, who won election to the Senate in 1998, did no business in Leonard’s courtroom. But in 1999, Leonard approved a $1 million contingency fee for Nicholls & Crampton,...

Megan Cutter, who is 10, likes tight Capri pants, high-heeled flip-flops, T-shirts that say "Princess" or "Brat," and clothes with glitter, plenty of glitter. "I think it's really pretty, and it gets you attention," she says. "I like attention." This may be what Megan likes to wear. It is not, however, what she is allowed to wear. "My mom and I have worked out some compromises," she says: one pair of blue pants that have some glitter on them; a T-shirt her dad bought that says "Smart, Cute" on the front and "Athlete. Who says you can't have it all?"...