The speed of light has not always been what it is today. At least that is my understanding. For a very short time period it was much much higher during initial expansion.
I've never heard that one. I think you're referring to the still-highly controversial "Inflation Theory", where, for an near infinitely brief instant in the very beginning, the universe expanded many times faster than the speed of light. This it could theoretically do because it wouldn't involve an object actually traveling *through* space faster than light, which is strictly forbidden in Einstein's theory, but rather space itself "stretching".
Why sure! It could be anything until Einstein passed his law.