Political Aides

Two of Saddam Hussein's former aides will probably be hanged this week, Iraq's Shiite-led government said Wednesday, even as it arrested three men in an effort to contain the uproar over the filming of Hussein's execution. There were conflicting reports on the planned executions of Awad Hamed Bandar and Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, just as there had been before Hussein was hanged Saturday. Iraqi officials said the hangings were imminent, but noted that the execution time would not be publicized.

He was booted out of the Capitol three years ago, but when former Gov. Gray Davis returns today to watch the man who replaced him sworn in for a second term, he'll find an eerie resemblance to what he left behind. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has entrusted onetime Davis aides with his administration's success, appointing them to top jobs. He has embraced policies that Davis favored and settled into a similar governing style.

An aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair was arrested Friday in an investigation into whether political honors, such as seats in the House of Lords and knighthoods, were traded for cash. Ruth Turner, Blair's director of government relations, was questioned on suspicion of being involved in the illegal sale of honors and perverting the course of justice, police said.

Four senior aides to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were paid nearly a quarter-million dollars in bonuses for political work they performed during the governor's race -- money that came from insurers, oil companies, real estate developers and other private interests that contributed to the governor's campaign. Chief of staff Susan Kennedy received a $100,000 bonus as a reward for the time she devoted to Schwarzenegger's reelection bid, the governor's office said Friday.

Four months after the congressional page scandal rocked Capitol Hill and helped dash Republican hopes for holding their majorities in Congress, the House voted unanimously Friday to expand the board that oversees the teenage interns and require that it meet regularly. The House voted 416 to 0 to reorganize the House Page Board so that it has two congressional members from each party, the House clerk, the sergeant at arms, one parent of a page and one former page.

Democratic fundraiser Sim Farar, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's Hollywood foot soldier, is a busy man these days. With the '08 presidential race now underway, he's working three cellphones, especially the one he calls "the money phone." "Dame Elizabeth Taylor was the first to call," he says proudly. She gave Clinton the maximum individual donation: $2,300. Not everyone is so committed. For example, Steven Spielberg is helping host a fundraiser for Sen.

The top fundraiser for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, a police source said. Michael Levy was arrested when he returned to a London police station for a bail hearing after his first arrest last year in connection with alleged offenses in a political funding scandal. Levy, who is also Blair's personal Middle East envoy, denied any wrongdoing. He was released on bail.

Forty seconds into an interview, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's official spokesman decides it is too risky to speak -- at least for publication. The topic seems safe enough: Adam Mendelsohn's boyhood interest in politics. But some hyper-cautious instinct asserts itself, warning that an answer might prove embarrassing to him, his boss or the administration.

Former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's defense in his perjury trial rests largely on the claim that he was too busy with pressing affairs of state to recall minor events such as conversations with reporters about an obscure CIA employee.

Accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy he met over the Internet, a former aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and onetime intern at the Orange County district attorney's office was portrayed Thursday by a prosecutor as a man who repeatedly preyed on a minor for sex.