Leo Faces Gang of Eight Grill on Shareef Assassination Finding
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Leo and Fitzwallace enter a tense conference room where politicians await with intel files spread before them, signaling the gravity of the impending revelation.
Leo delivers a presidential intelligence finding, detailing the chain of approvals from NSA to Joint Chiefs, escalating bureaucratic stakes.
Fitzwallace corroborates the intelligence legitimacy, layering institutional weight as the notification reaches the 'gang of eight'.
Lobell bluntly confirms the assassination intent, shattering procedural pretense with 'You're killing Shareef?'—forcing Leo's evasive pause.
Leo exits with theater ticket sarcasm, leaving lawmakers reeling as the scene fades on the unresolved moral chasm of extrajudicial action.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Unyielding professionalism veiling operational certainty
Fitzwallace enters alongside Leo, sits formally, and delivers a precise rundown of the finding's review chain through National Security Advisor, cabinet secretaries, Attorney General, White House Counsel, and himself, submitting it stone-faced for notification without engaging challenges.
- • Authenticate the finding's legitimacy and approvals
- • Reinforce executive authority in notification process
- • Shareef's elimination is legally and strategically justified
- • Military precision overrides congressional second-guessing
Determined resolve implied through actions
President Bartlet is referenced extensively as having requested, received, and signed the finding, planning to rescind EO 11905, and authorize at the last minute, central to the briefing's legitimacy without physical presence.
- • Authorize lethal action against Shareef
- • Navigate legal barriers strategically
- • National security trumps assassination bans
- • Last-minute orders minimize exposure
Steel resolve masking ethical discomfort with biting sarcasm
Leo enters confidently, greets the group, meticulously explains the President's request and the finding's intel and cabinet approvals, deftly parries legal challenges with minimal responses, pauses heavily before evading Lobell's accusation, then abruptly exits citing theater tickets after declaring notification complete.
- • Formally notify Gang of Eight to satisfy legal protocol
- • Deflect probing questions to maintain operational secrecy
- • Assassination is necessary despite moral qualms
- • Congressional oversight must be minimally acknowledged but not empowered
Wary suspicion fueling pointed inquiry
Man 3rd, seated at the table with a copy of the finding, probes Leo skeptically with a curt question on military involvement, contributing to the barrage of legal hurdles raised by the group.
- • Clarify military's role in the operation
- • Highlight potential legal violations
- • Military engagement risks broader infractions
- • Full disclosure is owed to oversight committee
Intensifying doubt demanding precise answers
Unidentified Legislator (Man 1st) questions circumvention of Executive Order 11905 and presses Leo on the timing of the President's green light, driving the legal interrogation forward from his seat at the table.
- • Uncover how EO 11905 is bypassed
- • Pinpoint authorization timeline
- • Executive Orders bind presidential actions
- • Oversight requires transparency on kill orders
Outraged defiance demanding accountability
Lobell sits with lawmakers, interjects bluntly invoking Posse Comitatus and directly accuses Leo of killing Shareef, escalating the interrogation into raw confrontation amid the group's rising scrutiny.
- • Expose and challenge the assassination plan
- • Enforce legal and constitutional constraints
- • Executive overreach equates to murder
- • Posse Comitatus prohibits military action on U.S. soil
- • question reliance on non-law-enforcement action
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Copies of the Presidential Finding slam onto the conference table, clutched by lawmakers as Leo and Fitzwallace detail its origin from overwhelming intel evidence, NSA/CIA sign-offs, and cabinet approvals; it serves as the fulcrum for notification, legal grilling, and accusation, embodying executive intent to unleash lethal action against Shareef.
Leo's 'theater tickets' emerge as a venomous, fabricated excuse to abruptly terminate the briefing after evasion, slicing through tension with sarcasm as he rises and exits, underscoring the administration's disdain for prolonged scrutiny and accelerating the plot toward assassination.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
NSA directors' signatures on the intelligence finding are cited by Leo as key validation, providing 'overwhelming evidence' from foreign/domestic sources that prompted Bartlet's request, bolstering the briefing's credibility amid lawmakers' legal assaults.
FBI's investigatory limits are invoked by Leo to counter Man 2nd's query on acting against Shareef on U.S. soil, ruling out police action and funneling necessity toward the military finding, sharpening Posse Comitatus debate.
CIA directors' preparation and sign-off on the finding is highlighted by Leo, anchoring the document's legitimacy as it circulates among lawmakers, fueling defenses against EO 11905 and Posse Comitatus challenges.
Foreign and domestic intelligence agencies supply the 'overwhelming evidence' Leo invokes, underpinning the finding's creation and presentation to the Gang of Eight, central to justifying the operation despite U.S. soil complications.
Narrative Connections
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Key Dialogue
"LOBELL: Posse Comitatus. You're killing Shareef? LEO: ([pause]) I don't know."
"MAN 1ST: Leo, when does the President give the green light? LEO: At the last possible minute. Consider yourselves notified. Thank you. I have theater tickets."