Preemptive Disclosure and a Closed Ranks Vow
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Leo confirms his family and the President already know about his history with addiction, preempting the scandal.
The senior staff forms a united front, offering unconditional support to Leo as he prepares for the coming storm.
A silent exchange of looks cements the unspoken bond between Leo and his team as they brace for impact.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Calmly pragmatic; immediately thinking through briefing strategy and the logistics of controlling the disclosure to the press.
C.J. stands with the group in Leo's office, absorbing Josh's report and Leo's confirmations; she represents the press-management perspective, mentally cataloguing implications for briefings and public reaction.
- • To craft a disciplined communications approach that minimizes damage when the story breaks.
- • To shield the President and the administration from avoidable headlines and misinterpretation.
- • That proactive, disciplined messaging can blunt the potency of leaks.
- • That internal unity makes external defense more credible.
Privately alert and contemplative; concerned about narrative consequences and how to linguistically frame the administration's response.
Toby is present among the gathered staff; though he does not speak, his presence registers as moral and communicative ballast—he listens, absorbs the implications, and readies language and messaging responses internally.
- • To anticipate and prepare careful communications to limit reputational damage.
- • To protect the President's voice and the administration's moral standing.
- • That precise language can shape public perception during personnel scandals.
- • That solidarity among senior staff is necessary to defend institutional credibility.
Measured and resolute; outwardly calm with an implied weariness, deliberately refusing panic to steady his staff and contain the political threat.
Leo enters composed, answers Josh's questions succinctly and calmly, revealing that both his family and the President already know about the rehab records, thereby stripping the leak of its surprise and shifting the room's tenor.
- • To neutralize the scandal's surprise by confirming prior disclosure to key people.
- • To maintain control of the situation and keep the staff focused and unified.
- • That transparency with his inner circle reduces political vulnerability.
- • That his role is to absorb personal cost to protect the administration's functioning.
Composed and attentive; professionally loyal, she reads the room and prepares to execute whatever administrative needs arise.
Margaret follows Leo into the office, a quiet administrative presence whose arrival underscores the private, managerial nature of the moment; she offers logistical and emotional steadiness without speaking.
- • To be ready to support Leo practically—calls, scheduling, or handling material fallout.
- • To preserve decorum and stability within the Chief of Staff's office.
- • That orderly, behind-the-scenes action mitigates public chaos.
- • That discretion and prompt logistics are essential in personnel crises.
Surface panic channeled into controlled, tactical urgency; anxious about political damage but focused on contingency and loyalty.
Joshua bursts in and delivers the procedural, urgent briefing: he explains Claypool has Leo's records, that a reporter will be called, and he frames the moral/legal exposure while asking whether Leo's family and the President know.
- • To inform Leo immediately of the leak and its imminent public exposure.
- • To protect the administration and avoid perjury or legal missteps among staff.
- • That early, blunt disclosure gives Leo a better chance to control the narrative.
- • That the leak's damage depends on whether the personal surprise element can be removed.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Leo's Office functions as the intimate, controlled setting where the legal threat is delivered and emotionally reframed. The room confines the crisis to a senior, trusted circle and allows Leo to neutralize the leak's surprise through private disclosure that his family and the President already know.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Josh revealing that Leo's rehab records will become public leads directly to Leo updating Bartlet about the impending exposure and Josh's deposition fallout."
"Josh revealing that Leo's rehab records will become public leads directly to Leo updating Bartlet about the impending exposure and Josh's deposition fallout."
"Josh revealing that Leo's rehab records will become public leads directly to Leo updating Bartlet about the impending exposure and Josh's deposition fallout."
Key Dialogue
"JOSH: It didn't go well. Claypool's got a copy of your records from rehab. Either he got 'em from Lillienfield or the other way around. I was in a position where I was gonna perjure myself, so Sam ended the deposition. Claypool's next step is to call a reporter, so I'm pretty sure you're going to be read about this soon, so I wanted to ask you, does your family know?"
"LEO: Yes."
"JOSH: You ready for this? LEO: Yes. JOSH: Then we're here for whatever you need. We just wanted to come in and tell you that."