Donna Presents a Candidate; Josh's Vetting Interrupted by a Drone Crisis
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Donna interrupts the game to inform Josh about the candidate waiting in the Roosevelt Room, shifting focus back to work.
Josh and Donna share a playful exchange about the candidate's appearance, highlighting their dynamic.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Distracted, mildly amused and performative during vetting; shifts quickly to alert, focused, and professionally urgent when the UAV news arrives.
Leads the informal vetting: leaves the poker game, interrogates Joe about credentials and past jobs in fast, practiced bursts, notices an unsigned SF-86 and escorts Joe to sign it, then immediately pivots to crisis-mode when Leo arrives with the UAV news.
- • Assess and qualify a candidate quickly to advance a hiring decision.
- • Protect the White House staffing pipeline by vetting for security and cultural fit.
- • Transition smoothly from routine personnel duty to national-security priorities.
- • That staffing choices are politically consequential and require quick political vetting.
- • That procedural details (like a signed SF-86) matter for access and security clearance.
- • That his role includes both gatekeeping and damage control during interruptions.
Amused and playful during the game; appreciatively competitive, then jarred as the scene pivots to serious business.
Present earlier at the poker table, engages in banter and card-throwing stunts that establish the game's light tone; stands and participates in the informal camaraderie before being cut off by the recruitment interruption and subsequent crisis.
- • Enjoy the social respite and informal competition.
- • Maintain group rapport through teasing and intellectual asides.
- • That poker night is a necessary decompression ritual for staff.
- • That skepticism and sharp commentary keep social dynamics lively.
Curious and testing—skeptical of weak explanations but steady and authoritative as he shapes the administration's response.
Arrives in the Oval as Leo and Josh bring the UAV report; challenges the plausibility of cover stories, role-plays the Russian president, and presses for a defensible diplomatic line before instructing a call to be set up.
- • Protect U.S. interests while avoiding unnecessary confrontation with Russia.
- • Craft a cover story and strategy that preserves credibility with the Russian President.
- • Assess the intelligence and ensure the President controls the narrative.
- • That rhetoric matters in superpower diplomacy and a flimsy cover will be seen through.
- • That the President must manage both truth and escalation risk to preserve stability.
Playful and affectionate toward Josh while conscientious about duties; slightly flustered but composed when the situation escalates.
Interrupts the poker game to fetch Josh and bring Joe's dossier; trades teasing, protective banter with Josh about appearances; delivers the candidate files and an extra folder before quietly apologizing and exiting as crisis hits.
- • Ensure the candidate gets seen and his paperwork is delivered.
- • Protect Josh's image while smoothing over internal optics around hiring.
- • Maintain office order by doing administrative legwork quickly.
- • That workplace perceptions matter and she should manage them for Josh.
- • That timely delivery of documents is her responsibility and aids decision-making.
- • That light teasing eases tension in a high-pressure workplace.
Urgent and businesslike—measured alarm that compresses the room's focus into crisis-management protocols.
Interrupts the interview with urgent intelligence: reports an American UAV downed in Kaliningrad, instructs Josh to come to the Oval, coordinates immediate presidential contact and a cover-story strategy, and sets up a call window if the President agrees.
- • Contain diplomatic fallout by controlling the narrative around the downed UAV.
- • Get the President briefed and the appropriate bilateral call set up quickly.
- • Protect classified technology and prevent Russian tampering with the wreckage.
- • That speed and a coherent cover story are essential to prevent escalation.
- • That only trained U.S. personnel can safely render the UAV inoperable.
- • That the President must be directly engaged to authorize the diplomatic approach.
Playful and engaged with colleagues, then composedly attentive as the evening's tone shifts toward official business.
Deals and collects during the poker hand, contributes to the light-hearted environment, and later moves quickly to assist with the 'Crash the West Wing' call when the shooting and UAV news escalate; in this event she is part of the social fabric that gets upended.
- • Keep the game orderly and engaging for colleagues.
- • Be ready to support staff needs when official business intrudes.
- • That small routines preserve morale.
- • That staff must pivot quickly from social to professional modes when necessary.
Mildly nervous but steady and cooperative; occasionally confused by offbeat banter but focused on presenting competence.
Sits composedly in the Roosevelt Room, answers Josh's brisk questions about education and work history with polite, concise responses; endures the informal, performative tone and concedes minor confusion at small talk.
- • Make a favorable impression to secure the associate counsel position.
- • Demonstrate relevant experience quickly and clearly.
- • Comply with administrative requirements (sign SF-86) to advance hiring.
- • That direct, factual answers will serve him best in an informal vetting.
- • That the Presidency's hiring process is competitive but navigable with credentials.
- • That procedural missteps can be corrected if noticed.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Leo's deli snacks sit on the poker table as a background detail that helps establish the informal, domestic tone of the late-night staff gathering before the interview and UAV crisis interrupt the scene.
The Senior Staff Poker Deck structures the social scene: cards are dealt, bets are placed, and showmanship (card tossing) punctuates banter. It provides the tonal contrast that is abruptly broken by the personnel and security interruptions.
Will's Joker Card is flung across the room into a garbage can, producing a comic high-energy beat that underlines the group's camaraderie and highlights how sudden the later tonal shift will be.
Donna's Folder for Joe Quincy is physically handed to Josh and contains the candidate dossier; it catalyzes the vetting sequence and symbolizes the shift from leisure to administration business.
Joe Quincy's SF-86 questionnaire is noted by Josh as unsigned; this bureaucratic detail halts the vetting briefly and underscores security protocol even amid casual screening.
Kaliningrad environmental survey satellite pictures are invoked by staff as a ready-made cover story for the downed UAV; they function narratively as the plausible lie the team will offer Russia to minimize escalation.
The American UAV downed over Kaliningrad is the catalytic object that transforms the scene: its crash forces staff to abandon casual matters and frame an urgent diplomatic response about sensitive proprietary technology and recovery.
The White House Press Room Podium is referenced in the poker-room banter (Will jokes about hitting seats from the podium), establishing setting continuity between social play and the building's formal spaces that will later host official communication about the incident.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Finland is named as the ostensible beneficiary of the environmental mission, providing a diplomatic fig leaf to justify the UAV's presence in Baltic waters near Kaliningrad.
Sweden is referenced along with other Baltic-bordering nations to shore up the environmental mission narrative and to make the story geographically coherent to skeptical interlocutors.
Germany is referenced to show the shared nature of the Baltic Sea and to further the environmental cover story; its mention is tactical in the Oval Office discussion.
Coney Island is mentioned rhetorically by Bartlet to highlight the absurdity of claiming an environmental mission—used as a foil to test the plausibility of the Baltic cover story.
Kaliningrad is the physical site of the crashed American UAV and thereby the geopolitical flashpoint around which the Oval Office discussion revolves; it converts a personnel-managerial moment into an international crisis requiring rapid diplomatic triage.
The Baltic Sea is invoked as the geographic cover-story theater: staff propose the UAV was on an environmental mission photographing coastal erosion there to plausibly explain its presence near Kaliningrad.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The New York City Department of Transportation appears as Joe Quincy's employer and the source of his trial experience; it is invoked to demonstrate practical litigation exposure relevant to the White House counsel role.
The Solicitor General's Office is cited as a prior employer for Joe Quincy, indicating high-level federal experience; its mention signals legal competence and the impact of political turnovers on career staff.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
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Key Dialogue
"DONNA: "There are some who would consider him handsome. I don't personally, 'cause you're the only one I think is handsome.""
"JOSH: "Your sense of humor's a bit of a high wire act isn't it? You're really trying to thread the needle.""
"LEO: "Best case scenario, is that he lets our guys get it untouched by Russian hands.""