Page 17 — Classified Intelligence Brief on Abida Kahn (Oval Office, read by Bartlet)

A single, letter‑sized classified briefing page explicitly identified as "page 17," printed with tight typed text and standing as one discrete leaf from a larger intelligence book. Bartlet holds and reads the page aloud in the Oval Office; its phrasing arrests the room until Leo's arrival shatters the moment and redirects attention.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E17 · The White House Pro-Am

Page 17 Interrupted — Fed Chairman Dies

Page 17 from the classified briefing is the immediate narrative trigger: Bartlet reads aloud from it, advisors reference its contents about Abida Kahn and under‑representation, and the page anchors the pre‑crisis intelligence context that is suddenly displaced by domestic emergency.

Before: In the President's classified briefing book on the Oval Office desk; being read aloud.

After: Replaced in the book or left on the desk as attention shifts to the Fed crisis; remains the source of the interrupted intelligence thread.

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S1E17 · The White House Pro-Am

The President Refuses to Rush: Dahl's Death and the Fed Standoff

The single classified page ('page 17') had been the focus of the Oval Office briefing immediately before Leo's entrance; it frames the conversation and contrasts the measured pace of intelligence work with the sudden, messy demands of a domestic financial shock.

Before: In Bartlet's classified book and being read aloud by the advisors; physically in the Oval Office briefing context.

After: Remains in the briefing material but is temporarily overshadowed by the breaking domestic news; still in advisors' possession as the President returns to the briefing.

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