Justice Deferred by Law
Bartlet's morally burdened insistence on airtight proof against Shareef yields to circumstantial failures and tortured testimony, exacerbated by diplomatic immunity shielding the terror financier upon U.S. arrival, igniting Situation Room fury and grave-side intel presses on Leo, illuminating the agonizing clash between legal rigor and urgent national security imperatives.
Events Exemplifying This Theme
In the Situation Room, Admiral Fitzwallace, Colonel Lee, and intelligence officers present damning circumstantial evidence: a money trail from Shareef's bank to Bai terrorists timed with bombings, matching bomb signatures …
At Mrs. Landingham's grave on the anniversary of her death, Bartlet vulnerably confesses to Charlie and the grave about seeing a therapist for insomnia, humanizing his grief amid national crisis. …
Transitioning from graveside grief over Mrs. Landingham's anniversary, Bartlet overrides Leo's reluctance to discuss urgent intelligence at Arlington Cemetery. Insisting they walk to the motorcade, Bartlet absorbs Leo's revelation of …
In the Situation Room, President Bartlet erupts in fury over diplomatic immunity blocking the arrest of Qumar's Defense Minister Abdul Shareef—a terrorist financier en route to U.S. soil. Advisors, led …
In the Situation Room, an urgent President Bartlet demands confirmation on bypassing Shareef's diplomatic immunity for indictment, but legal advisor David delivers a devastating blow: the entire evidence chain traces …