Ex-Aide Rejects Gonzales Stand Over Dismissals  —  The former chief of staff to Alberto R. Gonzales testified on Thursday that he had consulted regularly with the attorney general about dismissing United States attorneys, disputing Mr. Gonzales's public account of his role as very limited.

Testimony by Giuliani Indicates He Was Briefed on Kerik in '00  —  Rudolph W. Giuliani told a grand jury that his former chief investigator remembered having briefed him on some aspects of Bernard B. Kerik's relationship with a company suspected of ties to organized crime before Mr. Kerik's appointment …

Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists  —  A top-ranking official overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Interior Department rode roughshod over agency scientists, and decisions made on her watch may not survive court challenges, investigators within the Interior Department have found.

Which Is 'The Real War'?  —  "Our bill calls for the redeployment of U.S. troops out of Iraq so that we can focus more fully on the real war on terror, which is in Afghanistan."  —  The Senate and the House have both passed bills for ending the Iraq war, or at least liquidating the American involvement in it.

Observations about John Harris' replies  —  The Politico's Editor-in-Chief, John Harris, has responded via e-mail to the posts I wrote earlier this week, as well as to questions I sent to Poliico reporter Mike Allen about the Politico/Drudge relationship (posted in the first link).

Turkey, Iraq and the PKK  —  ANKARA, TURKEY.  —  When Iraq's vice president came to Turkey's capital on Tuesday to plead with the Turks not to invade northern Iraq to kill Kurdish terrorists, he spoke to the press in code.  —  The PKK is a Kurdish terrorist group that has killed some 30,000 Turks …

Presidential Candidates Focus on Fund-Raising  —  Forget campaigning.  Last week, Rudolph W. Giuliani held a presidential fund-raiser every day of the week.  Senator John McCain raised money at three events on Wednesday and another Thursday, racking up 27 this month alone.

Grass Roots Planted In Cyberspace  —  John Edwards's Campaign Leads the Field In Political Use of Social Networking Sites  —  If there's a social networking site that John Edwards is not a part of, we'd like to know what it is, pronto.  —  No one's sure exactly what role these sites …

Iraq: It may be a rough road to a Senate-House compromise  —  WASHINGTON — Fresh from passing the first timelines to bring home U.S. troops from Iraq, congressional Democrats now face the daunting task of reconciling critical differences between a Senate withdrawal plan passed Thursday and one approved by the House last week.

Policy Aide's Departure Continues Transformation of Bush's Staff  —  Over the past several years, Peter H. Wehner has sent a blizzard of e-mails around the White House and the rest of Washington, offering strategy and policy ideas to President Bush and making the case for those policies to outsiders.

Senate Sets Stage For Iraq Face-Off  —  Faced with his second rebuke in a week from congressional Democrats on Iraq policy, President Bush yesterday summoned Republican allies to his side in an effort to shift momentum in the escalating battle over the course of the war.