Narrative Web
S2E19
· Bad Moon Rising

Babish Directly Questions Bartlet on Perjury for MS Nondisclosure

In the White House Counsel's office, Oliver Babish methodically interrogates President Bartlet about his lack of life and health insurance, exposing vulnerabilities in his financial disclosures. Babish cuts sharply to the core: whether Bartlet ever signed a perjury-punishable document concealing his MS diagnosis. Bartlet's firm 'No' denial heightens the stakes of the internal probe into criminal conspiracy, only interrupted by Leo urging a call. Leo presses Babish for insight, but Babish admits he's far from conclusions, amplifying uncertainty over the administration's legal peril and Bartlet's defiance amid unraveling loyalty.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

4

Oliver Babish interrogates President Bartlet about his lack of life and health insurance, probing for potential perjury regarding his MS diagnosis.

neutral to tension

Bartlet defends his financial and health arrangements, asserting his family's security without government salary.

tension to defiance

Oliver cuts to the chase, directly asking Bartlet if he ever lied under penalty of perjury about his MS.

defiance to confrontation

Bartlet denies any perjury, maintaining his composure under Oliver's intense questioning.

confrontation to stalemate

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

3
Josiah Edward 'Jed' Bartlet (President of the United States)
President of the United States
 primary

Focused determination veiling underlying frustration at incomplete evidence

Oliver Babish conducts a precise interrogation of President Bartlet, probing insurance gaps and perjury risks with direct questions, swiftly cutting through explanations, and responds to Leo post-interruption with candid uncertainty about conclusions.

Goals in this moment
  • • Expose any perjury in Bartlet's disclosures to assess conspiracy scope
  • • Gather factual baseline on financial and health revelations for legal defense
Active beliefs
  • • Bartlet's insurance voids signal deeper disclosure failures potentially criminal
  • • Only exhaustive questioning pierces political facades to reveal truth
Character traits
methodical direct unflinching
Follow Josiah Edward …'s journey
Leo Thomas McGarry (Chief of Staff)
White House Chief of Staff
 primary

Urgent impatience layered with protective concern for the presidency's stability

Leo McGarry knocks insistently, enters to urgently direct President Bartlet to take a critical call, watches him exit, then immediately pivots to interrogate Babish on his assessment of the probe.

Goals in this moment
  • • Extract preliminary judgment from Babish on perjury risks
  • • Prioritize external crisis by pulling Bartlet from the interrogation
Active beliefs
  • • Babish's probe must yield actionable clarity to safeguard Bartlet
  • • Duty demands balancing legal scrutiny with real-time White House demands
Character traits
decisive loyal pragmatic
Follow Leo Thomas …'s journey
Oliver Babish
Special Counsel
 primary

focused

interrogates President Bartlet about life insurance, health insurance, and whether he signed a perjury-punishable document concealing his MS diagnosis

Goals in this moment
  • • determine if Bartlet committed perjury by not disclosing MS on official documents
Character traits
detached exacting professional strategic unflappable methodical decisive authoritative relentless incisive
Follow Oliver Babish's journey

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Office of the White House Counsel

The Office of the White House Counsel hosts Babish's high-stakes interrogation of the President, its closed doors enabling raw legal probing into perjury perils, interrupted by Leo's knock, transforming it into a nexus of interrupted reckoning where uncertainty lingers post-exit.

Atmosphere Taut and confidential, humming with the weight of concealed scandals and abrupt intrusions
Function Interrogation chamber for presidential testimony
Symbolism Embodies the grinding machinery of legal accountability eroding Oval Office invulnerability
Access Restricted to inner circle counsel, President, and Chief of Staff; door-knocking signals protocol breach
Daylight interior with focused, unadorned professional space Echoing knocks punctuating tense silence between questions

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What this causes 1
Causal

"Oliver's interrogation about Bartlet's health documents leads directly to Bartlet's confession about Abbey's perjury on Zoey's form, escalating the legal jeopardy."

Bartlet's Defiant 'Bring It On' Meets Oliver's Unyielding Ultimatum
S2E19 · Bad Moon Rising

Key Dialogue

"OLIVER: "Yeah, let me cut to the end of the page, sir. Have you ever signed any document for health insurance or life insurance or any document, which falls under the pains, and penalty of perjury in which you are asked about your health and did not disclose you have MS?""
"BARTLET: "No.""
"LEO: "What do you think?""
"OLIVER: "I am nowhere close to being able to answer that question.""