On November 3, 2006, Paris Hilton's grandfather, W. Barron Hilton, gave Arnold Schwarzenegger $22,300.  This was just days before the election and at a point when it was clear that Schwarzenegger would win. Barron Hilton does not appear to be a major donor to other state or federal candidates.  (He gave just $1000 to Dennis Hastert in the 06 cycle and nothing to other federal politicians.)

UPDATE (5/10/07): William Barron Hilton also appears to have given Schwarzenegger another $22,300 on May 9, 2006.  This was not listed on his major donor report, but is reported by the Schwarzenegger campaign here.  That makes $44,600 (the legal limit) that Barron gave Arnold in 2006.  But wait, there's more.  On March 17, 2005 Barron Hilton gave Arnold $20,000 for his California Recovery Team -- a ballot committee Arnold set up for his 2005 special election agenda.  He kicked in another $21,000 on October 21, 2005 . And, on September 22, 2005 Hilton Hotels gave $10,000 to the same committee.  So, make that $95,600 from Barron Hilton and his hotel company to Arnold from 2005-2006.  (The New York Daily News is reporting $59,600 here .) This would suggest that Barron Hilton is a more regular contributor than we first thought.

Paris is now asking Schwarzenegger to pardon her from serving 45 days in prison after violating her probation on a drunk driving charge.  

Pardons became a concern in the final days of President Bill Clinton's administration.   President Clinton pardoned Almon Glenn Braswell after Braswell and his associate Carlos Vignali each paid Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, $200,000 to represent them.  Rodham eventually returned these payments. 

So, the question is, will Schwarzenegger move to avoid any appearance of impropriety by returning Barron Hilton's money?  Barron has clearly done nothing wrong, yet he clearly has an interest in a very specific decision that Schwarzenegger faces.  The donation could cause many people to wonder if Schwarzenegger will consider this situation solely on its merits.