Character

Paid Informants

discreet knowledgeable credible

Paid informants supply critical human intelligence during the hostage crisis with captured U.S. Marines. Leo McGarry cites a couple of them, alongside electronic eavesdropping, to fix the captives' location in a barracks 37 miles east of Bitanga. This detail bolsters Admiral Fitzwallace's Delta Force raid plan—70% success odds from Ghana—and sways President Bartlet to authorize the high-risk extraction. Their input highlights HUMINT's role in resolving operational uncertainty amid execution risks.

3 appearances

Also known as: paid informants

Paid Informants's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

3 moments

S4E17 · Red Haven's On Fire

Closed Briefing — The Delta Force Decision

N/A (agents of information) — their presence is an operational fact that raises confidence in location data.

Cited by Leo as corroborating electronic intercepts to fix the hostages' location in the barracks; their human reporting narrows the target and enables the operational recommendation.

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S4E17 · Red Haven's On Fire

Private Briefing — The Rescue Decision and Its Cost

Not depicted directly; implied as transactional and consequential.

Referenced as the human sources whose testimony, combined with electronic intercepts, helps localize the hostages in the barracks 37 miles east of Bitanga; they do not speak on-screen but their …

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S4E17 · Red Haven's On Fire

Authorize Delta Extraction — 'We Got to Go Get Them'

Not present physically; their contribution carries implied urgency and the hazardousness of human-sourced intelligence.

Referenced by Leo as a key HUMINT source used to fix the captives' location; their prior reporting is a decisive factor in justifying direct action.

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Affiliation

Delta Force