Roxanne Conlin (Roxanne Conlin for Senate)

In a profile today of former federal prosecutor Roxanne Conlin, who is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the Des Moines Register says she will likely deflect expected attacks about her later career as a plaintiff’s lawyer by saying she has worked to “champion the powerless.”

Conlin’s “biggest payday” was an antitrust case on behalf of Iowa consumers against Microsoft Corp. that settled in 2007, The Register said. Conlin’s law firm split $75 million in fees with a Minnesota law firm, out of $180 million set aside by the software maker to pay Iowa consumers.

Conlin, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981, is one of four people seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Grassley.

Said The Register:

In a two-minute Internet video she used to help launch her campaign, Conlin doesn’t use the word lawyer or attorney. She uses the term “prosecutor” to refer to her career before 1982, and then later describes herself as the head of a “small law firm to give a voice to everyday people who had none.”

Conlin’s background as a trial lawyer could hurt her with a segment of voters, The Register reports. However, if she is able to portray herself as an advocate for the people, it could work to her benefit, according campaign experts who spoke to The Register.

Conlin said she has used her private practice to advance the same causes she would work to further if elected, including gender discrimination, sexual harassment and government transparency.

“I have spent my life standing up to the powerful,” Conlin told The Register, adding, “It’s what I do. I don’t have any fear.” The Register reports that Conlin ” has built a reputation as a single-minded litigator with a gambler’s streak, betting on her own skill and her tolerance for long hours of preparation.”

In a video she posted on her campaign Web site, Conlin said, “Taking on the special interests has been the cause of my life,” adding,  “I’m running for U.S. Senate to take this fight to Washington.”

We now have two independent sources telling us that Oxford, Miss., criminal defense lawyer Christi McCoy’s candidacy for Northern District of Mississippi U.S. Attorney appears to have run off the rails. We’re now hearing that Assistant U.S. Attorney Curtis Ivy in Oxford is the leading candidate. We’d earlier reported that Circuit Court Judge Thomas Gardner of Tupelo was in the mix.

Admittedly, we don’t have great insight into this one. McCoy and Ivy didn’t return phone calls, and a spokesman for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who reportedly recommended McCoy to replace Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee, won’t comment. “We have not made any of our recommendations public in order not to prejudice the White House vetting process,” Thompson’s deputy chief of staff, Karis Gutter, told me Tuesday.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)

After we posted this item back in May saying McCoy had hit a “snag” in the vetting process, Mississippi legal reporter Patsy Brumfield reported June 16 that Thompson had formally recommended McCoy to the White House.

Later, we learned that snag was related to McCoy’s professional connections to two figures in the famous Dickie Scruggs case. Scruggs is the mega-rich trial lawyer and brother-in-law of former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) who pleaded guilty in connection with two sets of charges alleging he attempted to bribe judges in Mississippi. 

McCoy once worked at the law firm of Joey Langston, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with Scruggs to bribe a judge. McCoy also represented former State Auditor Steve Patterson, who pleaded guilty in another Scruggs-related judge bribery case. I’m not sure why that would necessarily disqualify her – but the White House is very skittish about controversy of any kind in the U.S. Attorney selections. We also heard about something else on McCoy’s application that wasn’t quite in order, but couldn’t confirm the information.

Langston pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiring to bribe Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter to rule favorably on a Scruggs case. Langston allegedly dangled the prospect of a federal judgeship for DeLaughter – with help from Lott, who as senator was in a position to help push candidates through. Lott later acknowledged he’d called DeLaughter about the judgeship but said he didn’t actually recommend DeLaughter, who wasn’t nominate