Authorized Contact and the Quiet Confession
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Leo engages in casual banter about food preferences, masking the serious nature of his meeting with Jordan.
Jordan confronts Leo about why he shared sensitive information with her.
Leo reveals that the President ordered him to disclose the sensitive information to Jordan.
Leo reviews Jordan's credentials, emphasizing her international law expertise.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not applicable; as referenced subject, carries the moral weight and consequence of the confession.
Not present; referenced as the victim of the covert action Leo confesses—the murder central to the legal and moral crisis the scene generates.
- • none (being the subject of discussion rather than an actor)
- • serves as the focal point for legal and diplomatic fallout
- • not applicable
Not applicable; used as a conversational image rather than an actor.
Hypothetically invoked by Leo as a possible partner portrait in Jordan's firm's dining room; functions as a rhetorical flourish in credential vetting.
- • none within the scene
- • serve as shorthand for legal pedigree
- • not applicable
Confused and increasingly uneasy; maintains professional composure while processing the gravity of the confession.
Listens and answers Leo's questions about her résumé, corrects him on firm details, denies having relevant experience for an assassination-sized legal problem, and reacts with visible unease as Leo confesses the killing of Shareef.
- • clarify whether she is being engaged in an official, authorized capacity
- • assess whether she has the expertise or conflicts to advise
- • protect herself from unknowable legal exposure
- • understand the factual basis before giving counsel
- • she has a duty to the law and ethical practice that constrains her actions
- • extraordinary state actions (like assassination) carry significant legal risks
- • if this is truly official, it changes her obligations and the stakes of participation
Apologetic yet urgent; she wants to be helpful without breaking protocol, nervy about interrupting the gravity of the moment.
Initiates and maintains speakerphone connection, tries to clarify conversation protocol, then delivers an urgent posted message from Harold Harrison about an imminent District Court decision—interrupting the vetting and raising legal stakes.
- • ensure the President's staff receives critical judicial information immediately
- • maintain orderly communication flow in a tense briefing
- • minimize confusion by signaling important external developments
- • protect institutional processes by relaying chain-of-command messages
- • timely, accurate communication is essential to crisis management
- • external judicial decisions directly affect White House strategy
- • she must both be courteous and uncompromising about delivering urgent news
Not present; referenced warmly as a source of comfort in stressful moments.
Mentioned by Leo as the putative maker of potato salad with a 'secret ingredient'—serves as a humanizing conversational prop rather than an active participant.
- • none within the scene; functions as a conversational device
- • provide normalcy to offset tense subject matter
- • not applicable
Not applicable
Mentioned by Jordan as an example from her résumé—used to establish her legal breadth but not directly related to the murder confession.
- • none within the scene
- • provide credibility to Jordan's background
- • not applicable
Implied decisiveness; the President's presence is procedural and weighty rather than emotional in this moment.
Not present in the room but invoked as the authority who ordered Leo to make contact with legal counsel; his directive frames the legitimacy of the call and raises the stakes of the confession.
- • secure legal advice to manage fallout from covert operations
- • assert executive control over sensitive information and personnel response
- • the Oval Office must manage both security and legal exposure with counsel
- • direct presidential authorization legitimizes extraordinary actions
Urgent by proxy—his communication imposes sudden external legal pressure on the room.
Off-stage actor whose message (delivered by Margaret) alerts the Situation Room to an impending District Court decision that will complicate the legal situation revealed by Leo's confession.
- • inform the White House of critical judicial developments
- • ensure the Executive Branch can respond to court actions in a timely manner
- • judicial decisions are unpredictable and must be monitored
- • timely notice can change executive strategy
Not applicable
Referenced by Jordan as a prior wrongful-death client, demonstrating the scope of her civil litigation experience but distancing her from covert-action expertise.
- • none within the scene
- • illustrate Jordan's legal portfolio
- • not applicable
Collegial and teasing on the surface, quickly hardening to sober, controlled gravity—a practiced calm carrying moral weight.
Leads the exchange with disarming, wry banter about sandwiches, then shifts into a workmanlike vetting of Jordan's credentials on the Situation Room screen before delivering a blunt confession that U.S. forces killed Shareef and ordering Jordan escorted from the room.
- • establish the conversation as authorized by the President so Jordan will treat it as an official legal consult
- • vet Jordan's credentials rapidly to determine if she can advise on the legal exposure
- • normalize the truth by saying facts aloud to move toward a legal plan
- • manage immediate personnel and security response (clear the room, control information)
- • the President has authorized this contact and that gives Leo implicit authority to speak frankly
- • legal counsel must be involved immediately to contain institutional risk
- • speaking the truth aloud reduces deniability/uncertainty and is a step toward accountability
- • controlling the room and the narrative still matters even in moral emergencies
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The '14 bullets' are referenced as concrete detail of Shareef's murder; as an object of proof, the bullet count converts abstract policy into a tangible, morally charged fact that shapes legal analysis.
Leo's egg salad sandwich functions purely as a conversational prop — a deliberately mundane, disarming image used to humanize the exchange and lower Jordan's guard before the confession and credential vetting.
The Kaiser roll is invoked as part of Leo's food-talk to create warm, domestic texture in a high-pressure briefing — an anchor to normalcy that contrasts with the lethal reality he reveals.
Jordan's credentials file is opened/displayed on the Situation Room screen and read aloud by Leo; it provides the documentary basis for vetting her suitability to advise on the legal fallout from the Shareef killing.
The photograph of Jordan inside the file is singled out by Leo as a personalizing touch — a way to humanize and flatter Jordan before moving into the technical vetting, softening the blow of the confession.
The Situation Room credentials screen displays Jordan's résumé pages; it structures the interaction, allowing Leo to pace the vetting and use documentary authority to frame the conversation as official.
Margaret's speakerphone connects off-site voices to the Situation Room, enabling her to interrupt the exchange and deliver Harold Harrison's message; it is the conduit for the external judicial alert that changes the room's agenda.
Harold Harrison's message functions as an unseen, textual object delivered via Margaret's speakerphone — a plot catalyst that announces an imminent District Court decision and forces an immediate tactical shift.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The RAF airstrip in Bermuda is referenced as the site where Shareef was killed—its remote, humid physicality provides the factual locus for Leo's confession and anchors the legal and diplomatic ramifications in a specific battlefield locale.
The Situation Room is the secure, authoritative setting where informal banter gives way to the confession and immediate triage; its protocols, screens, and personnel norms both enable the vetting and insist on swift containment once external judicial news arrives.
Jordan's law-firm partners' dining room is mentioned rhetorically as the imagined place where partner portraits hang; it serves as a shorthand for institutional prestige when Leo riffs on her résumé.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Maxwell School of Diplomacy is cited from Jordan's credentials to establish her training and to suggest she has the theoretical background for international-law work relevant to covert-action fallout.
The U.S. District Court is introduced via Harold Harrison's message as an active external force — an imminent decision there will immediately complicate the Executive's legal posture following Leo's confession.
Whitcomb, Wiley, Hawking, Harrison and Kendall is invoked as Jordan's partner firm; mentioning the firm signals elite private legal resources are potentially reachable for the White House's crisis needs.
The U.S. Delegation to the United Nations is listed in Jordan's résumé, underscoring her government-facing international-legal experience and making her a plausible advisor for transnational legal exposure arising from the Shareef killing.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Leo's briefing about a suspicious parachute hints at the covert operation later revealed to be the assassination of Qumari Defense Minister Abdul Shareef."
"Leo's briefing about a suspicious parachute hints at the covert operation later revealed to be the assassination of Qumari Defense Minister Abdul Shareef."
"Leo's briefing about a suspicious parachute hints at the covert operation later revealed to be the assassination of Qumari Defense Minister Abdul Shareef."
"The mention of 'The Butcher of Kafr' and questions about Israeli involvement foreshadow the covert operation discussion about the assassination of Abdul Shareef and its geopolitical implications."
"The mention of 'The Butcher of Kafr' and questions about Israeli involvement foreshadow the covert operation discussion about the assassination of Abdul Shareef and its geopolitical implications."
"The mention of 'The Butcher of Kafr' and questions about Israeli involvement foreshadow the covert operation discussion about the assassination of Abdul Shareef and its geopolitical implications."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"JORDAN: Why did you tell me that?"
"LEO: I was order to this morning by the President."
"LEO: Nobody does. And we're talking about we killed Shareef. We put 14 bullets in his chest on an airstrip in Bermuda. It's helpful to start saying out aloud."