Leo Converts Rumor into Crisis: Mars, Money and the Leak
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The group discusses office eccentricities with Margaret, lightening the mood before meeting Leo, showcasing White House camaraderie.
Quincy briefs Leo on the NASA report rumor, with Leo confirming the report's classification by the Defense Department, adding credence to the leak.
Josh and Donna present the antitrust inquiry to Leo, who confirms the settlement terms, further confirming the severity of the leak.
Leo tasks the team with addressing the leaks, emphasizing the need to mitigate political damage, marking a shift to crisis management.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Implicated and potentially anxious (inferred).
Seymour Little is cited in Leo's roll-call of those who knew the settlement, making him part of the small leak-suspect circle; he is not physically present but his name narrows the search.
- • Avoid being publicly associated with improper influence.
- • Preserve organizational or private interests tied to the settlement.
- • Public scrutiny threatens negotiated outcomes.
- • Being named to a small circle carries reputational risk.
Irritated exterior with professional urgency — impatience at distraction but quickly focused and alarmed at the political stakes.
Josh arrives to see Donna soothing a dove, immediately pivots to triage when press tips arrive, questions Quincy and Donna, and decides to escalate to Leo — driving the group's crisis response.
- • Confirm the accuracy of the Post's claims.
- • Escalate the issue to Leo and initiate leak containment.
- • Leaks of this nature are politically dangerous and must be contained immediately.
- • Information control requires rapid, senior-level intervention.
Potentially guarded and concerned (inferred).
May is listed by Leo among the few NEC or policy staff aware of the settlement, placing her in the group of potential leakage points though she remains offstage.
- • Ensure internal confidentiality.
- • Help the White House manage policy fallout without public panic.
- • Institutional secrecy is sometimes necessary for negotiation.
- • Leaks are often internal rather than external.
Protective and flutteringly anxious — fondness for the bird gives way to quiet alarm about the press tip and a desire to be useful.
Donna is physically calming a dove at Josh's window, then relays the Post inquiry about the DOJ/Casseon settlement to Josh and helps shepherd the early inquiry toward C.J.'s office and Leo.
- • Keep the situation with the bird calm (momentary).
- • Escalate and route the Post inquiry to the proper channels to help contain the story.
- • Small humane acts matter even during crisis.
- • Proper routing of press queries can blunt damage quickly.
Implicated and vulnerable (inferred) — may be privately alarmed at the leak's potential damage to his reputation.
Vice President John Hoynes is named by Josh and Leo as someone who knew the Casseon settlement terms; his being in that knowledge circle implicitly places him under suspicion though he does not appear in the room.
- • Protect his political standing and distance himself from any suggestion of impropriety.
- • Ensure his office is not the source of the leak.
- • Proximity to sensitive deals carries political risk.
- • Leaks often aim to undermine careers and must be countered quickly.
Eager and slightly nervous — determined to be helpful while absorbing the gravity and pace of West Wing crisis procedures.
Joe Quincy arrives politely seeking Leo, delivers the science-editor tip about a possible White House classification/suppression of a NASA report, answers Josh's quick questions, and is left to contemplate the office's intensity after being excused.
- • Get his questions to Leo McGarry and do his job properly.
- • Establish himself as a competent, useful new counsel within the White House.
- • He can and should use formal channels to get answers.
- • The press's inquiries have legal and institutional consequences that require senior attention.
Determined and professionally dogged — pursuing a high-impact story through unnamed sources.
The Post's science editor is invoked as the person who received a blind-source tip about the NASA report suppression; their inquiry catalyzes the internal legal/PR scramble.
- • Verify the blind-source tip and publish the story.
- • Hold public officials accountable for any suppression.
- • The public has a right to know about classified science claims with political implications.
- • Insider sources can reveal institutional wrongdoing.
Implied cautious — likely aware that association with the settlement makes them a person of interest in leak tracing.
The Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust is invoked by Leo as one known to the settlement terms, thereby placed in the circle of potential leak sources and internal inquiry targets.
- • Maintain confidentiality of DOJ negotiations.
- • Avoid being publicly tied to political fallout.
- • Antitrust negotiations are sensitive and privileged.
- • Leakers often emerge from small, tightly held circles.
Implicated-by-association (inferred) — a defensive posture is likely.
Hackley is named by Leo among the few who knew settlement terms; cited as part of the leak-tracing constellation though not present in the scene.
- • Protect professional reputation.
- • Avoid being the point of origin for leaked information.
- • Access to privileged information entails risk.
- • Internal discipline matters to stop reputational damage.
Playful and unfazed — using levity to normalize stress and welcome a newcomer into staff culture.
The Political Affairs Office girls (represented here) contribute a light, mischievous aside about Quincy's parking-spot prank as the group moves through the outer office, momentarily puncturing tension with workplace banter.
- • Lighten the mood amid growing tension.
- • Signal in-group camaraderie to a new staffer (Quincy).
- • Practical jokes build social bonds.
- • A little humor helps cope with high-pressure work.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The NASA Commission report is the contested artifact at the heart of Quincy's tip: alleged evidence of fossilized carbonate molecules in a Martian meteorite, rumored to have been suppressed. Its alleged classification by Defense transforms a rumor into an institutional dilemma.
A white dove repeatedly taps at Josh's office window and serves as the scene's humanizing prelude. Donna's coaxing of the bird creates a private, gentle tone that is abruptly broken by incoming crisis information.
The '100,000 computers' element of the Casseon settlement operates as the tangible quid pro quo alleged by the Post; Donna voices it aloud, converting rumor into an actionable allegation that narrows who knew what inside the administration.
Josh's office window is the physical barrier the dove pecks at; it frames the opening domestic beat and visually separates the calm (inside) from the outside world's intrusions (press and rumor).
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Outer Oval Office (used here as Leo's outer office / anteroom) functions as the transitional space where staff move from interior, focused work to senior-level adjudication. It contains the banter (mayo prank) and sets the tone before the team enters Leo's inner office to escalate the crisis.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Press Office (C.J.'s shop) is the conduit through which the Post's tips reached Joe Quincy and the senior staff. It functions as the operational node that first triages reporter calls and escalates them to counsel and senior aides.
The White House as an institution is both the target and respondent: its internal confidentiality, chain-of-command, and reputation are threatened by these simultaneous allegations, catalyzing executive-level damage control.
The NASA Commission on Space Science and Research is the originator of the disputed report. Its alleged findings — fossilized carbonate molecules in a Martian meteorite — are the substance of the suppression charge and therefore central to the substantive political risk.
The Washington Post is the originating outlet for both press tips: the science editor's blind-source claim about the NASA report and the inquiry about the DOJ/Casseon settlement. The Post's reporting sets the external clock driving White House response.
Casseon is the private corporation central to the DOJ settlement; its settlement terms (100,000 computers) are alleged by the Post to be the quid pro quo for softer enforcement, making Casseon the transactional fulcrum of the leak.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The discovery of a possible coordinated leak escalates the situation, leading Leo to task the team with crisis management."
"The discovery of a possible coordinated leak escalates the situation, leading Leo to task the team with crisis management."
"The discovery of a possible coordinated leak escalates the situation, leading Leo to task the team with crisis management."
"The discovery of a possible coordinated leak escalates the situation, leading Leo to task the team with crisis management."
Key Dialogue
"QUINCY: A reporter looking into the White House suppressing a NASA Commision."
"QUINCY: That... sir, I'm, you know... they claim it said that a meteorite from Mars... from Mars was discovered in Antarctica about 30 years ago and that we found fossilized carbonate molecules. That we know there's life on Mars, that's what they're saying we're suppressing."
"LEO: The Defense Department classified the NASA Commision report."
"DONNA: 100,000 computers in classrooms."