U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan said today that federal prosecutor George Holding should stay on the job until investigations of former Sen. John Edwards and former Gov. Mike Easley are completed.

She said she has been in talks with the White House and that she wants to eliminate politics from the process of replacing a U.S. Attorney, Andy Curliss reports.

"It is not in North Carolina's best interest to replace" Holding right now, she said.

Holding is overseeing the two high-profile probes that have been the subject of recent news reports.

Her comments come a day after the resignation of one member of a three-person screening panel that Hagan established to winnow candidates for the top prosecutors' positions in North Carolina.

Locke Clifford, a criminal defense lawyer from Greensboro, stepped down on Tuesday but did not cite a reason. Hagan said he has not been involved in screening for a replacement of Holding.

The panel had been expecting to interview candidates last week and this one, according to the panel's chairman, Burley Mitchell. Mitchell is a former chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court and now a lawyer at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in Raleigh.

Clifford has not returned calls or made comments. But Clifford's vehicle was spotted at the Easley home on Tuesday.

Clifford was replaced with Jim Phillips.

* Greensboro attorney Locke Clifford suspiciously steps down from a panel advising Sen. Kay Hagan on potential U.S. attorney appointments.

* Senate committee considers rolling back sex ed bill to give parents the option to opt their kids in to comprehensive class instead of opting out.

* N.C. GOP chairman candidate Chad Adams did not like Rob Christensen's Sunday column, demands an apology to former Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

* N.C. State University's chancellor and provost will appear before a grand jury this week, making it clear its probing former Gov. Mike Easley.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has named lawyers to help her with judicial appointments.

The Greensboro Democrat announced that former U.S. attorney Janice McKenzie Cole, criminal attorney Locke Clifford and N.C. State Bar vice president Anthony di Santi will serve on the panel advising her.

The panel will be led by former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell.

"I have brought together some of North Carolina's best and brightest, each of whom offers a diverse range of legal expertise, to help me recommend federal nominees that all North Carolinians, regardless of their political affiliation, will be proud of," Hagan said in a statement.

Each is from a different area of the state: Cole lives in Perquimans County, Clifford lives in Greensboro, di Santi in Blowing Rock, and Mitchell in Raleigh. All four are registered Democrats.

The group will make recommendations to Hagan for U.S. attorneys, federal district cout judgeships and appointments to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hagan hopes to end partisan gridlock over the Fourth Circuit.