Deposition: Leo's Past Laid Bare
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Claypool shifts focus to alcoholism in the White House, probing for specific names, which Josh refuses to provide, escalating the stakes.
Claypool directly accuses Leo McGarry of alcoholism and Valium addiction, using a document to support his claims, provoking Josh's protective instincts.
Sam announces the deposition is postponed as tensions reach a breaking point, with Josh physically confronting Claypool in a moment of rage.
Sam delivers a final warning to Claypool, promising retaliation if Leo is targeted further, asserting the team's loyalty.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Calculating and combative — confident in the leverage of produced documents and willing to press until the court intervenes.
Claypool methodically presses Josh on relevance, produces the Secret Service record as incriminating proof, pursues Josh and Sam when they attempt to leave, and is shoved — continuing the legal assault even as physical confrontation occurs.
- • Force disclosure and answers that expose White House weaknesses
- • Use secret records as leverage in litigation and public narrative
- • Prevent the deposition from being postponed or stalled
- • Disclosure of records is in the public interest
- • Legal pressure can produce political consequences
- • Aggressive questioning will unsettle witnesses and force mistakes
- • Institutional secrecy should be pierced by litigation
Tense and expectant — the room's attention heightens the emotional stakes and amplifies reputational risk for those involved.
Deposition room observers sit silent but alert as the paper is produced and the shove happens, their presence magnifying the consequences and converting procedural argument into a public spectacle.
- • Witness the deposition record for posterity
- • Observe procedural law and decorum (implicitly)
- • Hold participants accountable through scrutiny
- • Recorded legal proceedings are consequential
- • Public exposure through deposition matters
- • Personal confrontation in a recorded room has lasting impact
Righteous anger mixed with urgent protectiveness — outwardly controlled refusal until fury overwhelms restraint, producing a physical outburst.
Joshua Lyman refuses direct questions about Leo's treatment, calls the produced paper illegally obtained, physically shoves Claypool when provoked, then storms out — alternating legal caution and explosive personal defense.
- • Prevent disclosure of private treatment records
- • Protect Leo's reputation and sources
- • Avoid giving Claypool fodder for public exposure
- • Exit the confrontation before further legal damage accrues
- • Claypool is abusing litigation to inflict political damage
- • Personal treatment records are private and revealing them is unethical or illegal
- • Staff loyalty requires active defense, even at personal cost
- • Legal forms do not justify public humiliation
Leo McGarry is not physically present but is the primary subject: his confidential treatment is revealed, making him the immediate …
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Deposition Room functions as the tight, formal arena for the exchange: an enclosed legal chamber where Claypool reads and displays a paper, objections are raised, and a sudden shove escalates a procedural hearing into a personal confrontation. The room's recorded, clinical nature concentrates tension and ensures every action becomes evidence and theater.
Sierra Tucson is referenced as the named rehabilitation facility where Leo allegedly spent twenty-eight days; though offstage, the location is invoked to supply narrative specificity and to convert private recovery into a concrete, humiliating fact in the deposition.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The deposition's tension escalates from verbal sparring to physical confrontation as Claypool provokes Josh by exposing Leo's past."
"The deposition's tension escalates from verbal sparring to physical confrontation as Claypool provokes Josh by exposing Leo's past."
Key Dialogue
"CLAYPOOL: It says Leo McGarry spent twenty-eight days in an alcohol and substance abuse treatment center called Sierra Tucson."
"JOSH: This is a piece of paper obtained illegally."
"SAM: You're a cheap hack. And if you come after Leo I'm gonna bust you like a piOata."