Josh Hands Donna the Perez Vetting
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Donna informs Josh about Ivan Perez's request, prompting Josh to delegate the initial vetting to her.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Brusque and focused—frustration underlined by the urgency to prioritize the tax-plan crisis and protect the campaign.
Josh responds brusquely, delegating the first vetting to Donna with a flippant litmus test that compresses judgment into a few banal checks, signaling his need to triage higher-level problems.
- • Free himself to handle the larger political fire (the Republican tax plan and its optics).
- • Protect Sam by preventing questionable local actors from getting access.
- • Maintain control over who meets the campaign to minimize PR risk.
- • Small-scope vetting can be handed down; his staff will execute it.
- • Time and attention are the limiting resources; delegation is necessary.
- • A quick filter (appearance and local political correctness) will screen out most problems.
Mildly amused and businesslike—treats the new complication as another fact to manage rather than a crisis to panic over.
C.J. arrives just after Donna's exit, grabs a soda, and reports a logistics snafu (Advance and Airlift/CHP miscommunication) that has shut down I-5, adding to the operational pressure shaping Josh's decision to delegate.
- • Inform staff of the travel/advance breakdown to adjust plans.
- • Contain any optics fallout from the logistical errors.
- • Keep the team focused on message control amid unfolding problems.
- • Logistics and optics are inseparable from messaging and must be fixed quickly.
- • Information delivered plainly helps the team triage priorities.
- • Small operational failures compound political risk if not controlled.
Professionally alert with mild bemusement—she's attentive to detail but used to being given small crises to manage.
Donna retrieves and relays voicemail information to Josh, asks for direction, accepts a brusque litmus test, and exits to meet the caller—acting as the hands-on gatekeeper for incoming local contacts.
- • Accurately relay Ivan Perez's messages to senior staff.
- • Execute Josh's instructions quickly and without causing further trouble.
- • Protect Sam's campaign by appropriately vetting outside contacts.
- • Small gatekeeping tasks are part of her remit and can prevent larger problems.
- • Josh is rushed and expects staff to handle lower-level triage.
- • Local activists can easily become press liabilities if not checked.
Neutral, professional broadcasting.
The CNN anchor's televised line (heard earlier) creates the ambient pressure that pushes Josh to triage; the anchor is an off-screen force shaping staff urgency.
- • Report the story that the White House has not responded.
- • Frame the Congressional debate as major news to viewers.
- • On-air framing shapes public and political pressure.
- • Prominent coverage increases the need for rapid institutional response.
Hopeful and expectant—seeking recognition and a meeting with campaign staff.
Ivan Perez is not physically present but functions as the catalytic off-stage actor via voicemail: his requests for five minutes create a potential access point and risk for the campaign.
- • Secure a five-minute meeting with campaign or White House staff.
- • Represent and advance the interests of the California Agricultural Laborers Association.
- • Gain influence or access to policy makers.
- • A short meeting can open access to meaningful influence.
- • Being physically nearby (hotel) increases chances of access.
- • Labor representation matters to the campaign and deserves attention.
Not applicable (referenced)
Richard Sutter is invoked by Josh as a political litmus test — his name functions as a benchmark for local ideological seriousness rather than as an active participant.
- • (Inferred) Influence local labor and immigration policy debates.
- • Serve as a measuring point in local political alignment.
- • Local policy actors like Sutter define usable political coalitions.
- • Positions on foreign labor recruitment mark a politician's seriousness to activists.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
C.J. grabs a soda as she joins the conversation; the mundane prop underlines the routine, pressured work rhythm aboard the plane and punctuates her factual briefing about the I-5 shutdown.
Donna accesses her office voicemail system (remotely or before boarding) and relays the content to Josh; the voicemail is the narrative trigger that converts an off-stage request into an on-board operational decision.
Ivan Perez's specific voicemail messages are the informational payload—name, organization, hotel status, and request for five minutes—which catalyze the vetting exchange and the litmus-test instruction from Josh.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The plane is flying over the Grand Canyon during the scene; this vast geographic backdrop heightens the sense of scale and danger, contrasting the huge national stakes with the petty, exacting work of staffly triage.
The narrow plane hallway is where Donna slips away to check voicemail and where the informal whisper-network of staff operates; it functions as a liminal, transitional space for quick exchanges and low-level triage.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The California Agricultural Laborers Association is present only through its leader's voicemail; it functions as a potential ally or liability whose unknown ideological ties make the campaign nervous about unscreened access.
Advance and Airlift Operations is invoked by C.J. as the actor whose miscommunication contributed to an Interstate 5 shutdown, creating logistical pressure that compounds staff triage decisions like Josh's delegation.
The California Highway Patrol is referenced as the on-the-ground authority that closed I-5 after being notified late; their action physically disrupted staff movements and amplified pressure on communications and advance teams.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"DONNA: I checked the voicemail at the office, and there were a couple of messages from a man named Ivan Perez of the California Agricultural Laborers Association."
"JOSH: Find out if he's for real before I meet with him."
"DONNA: What litmus test would you like me to use? JOSH: Well, to begin with, is he wearing shoes and shirt?...Ask him what he thinks of Richard Sutter."