03x01 - It's Handled

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Scandal". Aired: April 2012 to April 2018.*
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A White House Communications Director leaves to start her own crisis management firm only to discover she has not left the past behind.
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03x01 - It's Handled

Post by bunniefuu »

Joining us now, the reporter who broke this story... Vanessa Chandler of the "Post's" styles section.

Vanessa, we have a name now. (Phones ringing)

Former White House communications director Olivia Pope.

How sure are you that she's the woman who had an alleged affair with President Grant?

It's just one source, but it's a good source...

A source in a position to know the true identity of the president's mistress. (Clicks)

And, well, you know how this works.

It's just a matter of time before others come out of the woodwork and more details emerge.

Can you give us an idea of how high up this person was in the administration?

No, but I will say that my source is 100% sure... that Ms. Pope is the President's mistress, and if they're right...

And obviously I believe they are...

It's only a matter of time before more details come out.


22 minutes without making a sound.

If only you'd been this quiet as a child.

Why did you try to have me k*lled?

I didn't try to have you k*lled.

I tried to have Jake Ballard k*lled.

Hmm. We're here.

No. - You've gotten yourself into a bit of trouble, Olivia, and I'm here to fix it.

No.

Now listen to me. You raised your skirt and opened your knees and gave it away to a man with too much power.

You're not rare. You're not special.

Your story's no different than a thousand other stories in this town, so you know how this goes.

You could call this in your sleep.

First they'll smile, be warm, sympathetic, on your side, letting you know that they will fight for you.

They will lull you into a false sense of security.

And then, once your belly is exposed, they will gut you and everyone you know.

And they will be swift about it.

And by the time you realize you should be fighting back, well, you're already bleeding to death.

That is the presidency versus you.

Whose victory do you think they will fight for?

Whose body do you think they will bury?

He would never...

"He would never."

You and I both know that he is not in charge.

He is never in charge.

Power is in charge.

Power got him elected.

I know more than you could possibly imagine about things of which you cannot dream.

He told you that you would be first lady, and you believed him!

Did I not raise you for better?

How many times have I told you you have to be... what?

You have to be... what?

Twice...

What?!

(Voice breaks) Twice as good.

Twice as good as them to get half of what they have.

Sleeping with that...
(Sighs)

For God sakes!

You know to aim higher.

At the very least, you could have aimed for Chief of Staff, Secretary of State!

First Lady?!

Do you have to be so mediocre?

Your staff will be taken care of financially.

Your business will continue to run.

Money is not a problem. There's always money.

Money bought that plane. Money bought the silence of the gentleman who will fly that plane.

It contains a passport, a Swiss bank book, a go file, an entirely new identity.

There is a very nice island waiting for you at the end of the flight.

You will stay there for eight months.

Then I can arrange a place for you in brussels.

Thailand, if you prefer, Johannesburg...

Any place but here, really, as long as you disappear.

And what if I don't want to go?

Olivia, you're getting on that plane come hell or high water.

And to be clear, I am the hell and the high water.

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)



(Airplane engines whirring)

We'll be taking off in a moment. Can I get you anything to drink?

No. Thank you.

Can I...borrow your phone?

(Sighs) Where are you?

I'm sitting in a jet on a runway.

Where are you going?

Nowhere. I'm disappearing.

That is not an option.

It is. Apparently, it's very simple.

I just get on this plane and I disappear into thin air.

Get off the plane. Don't run.

You need me here so you can throw me under the bus?

I know how this goes. I can run this play in my sleep.

You'll burn me.

I won't burn you.

Not unless you burn me. We are on the same side. - Are we?

Who leaked my name, Cy?

When I find out, they will suffer.

Get off the plane!

I just wanted to say good-bye.

Olivia...

Tell him I said good-bye.

Olivia. Olivia!

What?

If you... disappear... If you disappear, he will think that I had you k*lled.

And he will never trust me again.

He barely trusts me as it is, and I will not be able to help him out of this.

If he thinks you're dead, I won't be able to save him.

Don't run! I have done dark things, but I have also been your friend and your champion.

When you aren't a monster?

I am a monster, but, honey, I'm your monster!

And I will fix this.

I will put this ridiculous, untrue rumor about you having an affair with the president to rest.

I will put it down. I will bury it!

I just need a little time, and I just need you not to run.

(Breathing heavily)

I need you to get off the plane, my friend.

Get off the plane.

Olivia!

I'm not going.

Yes, you are.

Thanks for the offer, but no.

You're being stupid about this.

I am many things. Stupid is not one of them.

Olivia, you can't possibly think you're going to return to your old life as if nothing is happening.

What is happening is that I am taking care of myself!

Take me to my office.

The White House will destroy you.

That's what mom used to tell me about you.

(Window whirs)

Like I said and will continue to say in a variety of ways, the White House has no official comment on these accusations and no plans to comment further.
(Reporters shouting questions)

You want the Vice President to take on the President's public appearances in the middle of all this? Th-that...

Until I can find the source of the fire and put it out, tamp this thing down.

She's gonna get the questions.
All the questions.

Then she'll dodge them and be very good at it.

Cyrus, maybe you and I should get together and discuss this.

I don't think so. - Sally.

My answer is no.

Ma'am! - No, I will not be aiding and abetting a man breaking his marriage vows and laying with another woman.

I will not be surrendering that piece of my soul.

I am the Lord's witness.

No...

No! The people.

The people, Madame Vice President...

(Chuckles) The people elected you to be the President's sidekick, not the lord!

The Lord did not fill out his voter registration card.

So guess what. The Lord does not have the right to vote in the United States of America!

I am done with you and your superiority and your rudeness.

I have never once mentioned how I feel about your godless h*m* lifestyle and that poor, sweet brown baby that you have dragged into it.

I keep my personal opinions to myself.

But you find any opportunity each and every day to belittle me and my desire to serve the Lord.

You have no respect. Not for me, not for the voters I handed you on a platter the last election, the voters I will take with me when I go.

Go? Wh-where are you going!? Canada?

Because that's the only place you have a chance of being elected on a sitting president from your own party, who...

Who is sleeping with whores!

I'd like to speak with Sally alone, please.

Alone.
(Sally sighs)

Please.

(Whispers) Okay.

Okay.
(Sighs)

(Door opens)

(Inhales and sighs)

Well?

Do you drink ever?

Excuse me?

I'm not trying to just...

If you were a man, I'd offer you a scotch.

And I thought, I'm kind of an ass if I only offer you the scotch if you're a man.

What is that? Some prep school crap I learned.

Uh... anyway, do you... drink?

(Inhales sharply)

I would like a scotch. Neat.

Sally... (Exhales)

Yes?

(Pours liquor, bottle clatters)

I slept with someone who is not my wife.

You're not surprised that I cheated.

You're surprised that I'm admitting it.

(Pours liquor) Which is...

(Bottle clatters) I did. I had an affair.

I take responsibility, and I'm sorry.

I failed you.

Me, sir?

You. As your team member, as your President, as your fellow citizen.

I did not live up to my promise to be the best man I could be.

I lied.

I lived a lie.

And I am sorry about that.

Okay?

All right, Mr. President.

Okay.

So...

These public appearances Cyrus is asking you to stand in on for me...

Sir?

Sally, it's time for me to do the right thing.

Be the leader I've always wanted to be.

In order to do so, I have to stand in front of the world and say who I am and what I've done and deal with the consequences, and I am okay with that.

That moment is coming, and I want it to come.

What I'm asking you is for the chance to buy a little time to get the people in my life ready for that moment.

Can you do that for me?

(Inhales)

Yes. (Exhales)

Yes, I can.

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

(Man) There she is!

(Reporters shouting questions, camera shutters clicking)

(Pounding on limousine)

(Clamoring)

(Man) Move out of the way!

Get off the car!

Don't!

Move out of the way!

Hey. Hey!

(Camera shutter clicking)

(Clamoring continues)

Olivia! Take my hand.

(All shouting at once)

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

(Shouting continues)

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

(Abby) What should we do? What's our first move?

We do nothing. It's being handled, which means all of you can go back to work, business as usual.

Business as usual?

How is that even possible?

You pick up the phone and call our clients.

Show them we're as dedicated to them as ever.

What?- Are we really not gonna talking about the fact that you're the most infamous woman in America... - The world.

In the world right now?!

It's being handled.

By who? The White House?

Liv, the phone has been ringing off the hook all morning.

Aside from the reporters, the only people getting through are clients calling to fire us.

It's Olivia Pope for Governor Suarez.

Yes, that Olivia Pope.

The White House is going to bury her!

Okay, Jeff, your call, but don't call me in two hours when this nonsense blows over.

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

And you know who goes down with her? Us. We all burn.

You know it, I know it, everybody knows it.

Ambassador Heller, guten tag.

There is no one else on earth who can handle something like this better than we can.

(Pounds desk) So that's what we do.

Senator, I understand you're in a tough position.

I do, but honestly, so was I when I defended your son who was guilty of r*pe.

I never once left your side, and...

We handle it.

Even if Liv won't.

(Voice breaks) I understand.

Goodbye, Sandra.

(Sets down phone) (Exhales)

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

Hello, sweetheart.

You want something.

Shame to get scooped by a society page blogger.

She's so beneath you.

How does someone that low-level get access to White House sources?

Is she making it up just to get ahead or sleeping with someone...

No.

You know, we're not playing this game.

I'm playing, and if you play, too, you get a prize, a scoop.

A scoop?

A good one.

Malloy's.

Excuse me?

Bottom feeders like Vanessa tend to troll for crumbs of gossip at Malloy's.

What's special about Malloy's?

Secret Service drinks there.

Sweetheart!

You owe me!

Hal.

Ma'am.

I need to ask you a question, Hal, and I would like you to be honest with me.

All right.

Do you know how the rumors about Olivia Pope and my husband got started?

(Sighs)

I only ask because I know that sometimes you and the other agents like to drink at Malloy's after work, and there's always journalists there waiting around to pick up a crumb or two.

I know a vindictive housewife when I see one.

That woman couldn't wait to tell the world her husband couldn't keep it in his pants.

Do you blame her?

She just found out her husband had been screwing one of their trusted advisers right under her nose.

You want another drink? You're buying.

Did you give her a name?

Did... you... give... her a name?

No.

No, I didn't. I did not.

Hate to be in your shoes.

You shouldn't be here.

Why? Because I'm the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and may be asked to investigate the President's affair with you?

I left that hat at the door.

David...

Don't say anything.

I'm here as your friend, and the less you say, the less I'll know when the Democratic leadership pulls me into a room and asks me all their questions about you.

So have you made up your mind?

About what?

About which road you're gonna take.

The hard one where you put on the white hat and admit everything up front, or the harder one, the one that could destroy not only you, but everyone you hold dear.

The one I don't want to see you anywhere near.

You're making a lot of assumptions.

Perhaps, but if there's proof, it won't take much.

Hey, what's he...

What are you doing here?

Missed you, too.

Hey, return my calls.

Liv, turn on your tv.

A new development in the presidential affair scandal, this one provided by one of our viewers, who...

Can we bring up the video? There it is.

You'll forgive the graphic content.

There is a young man relieving himself in the foreground, but there, in the background...

Freeze that imagine.

See?

That's President Grant.

And that building he's coming out of...

That's the building where Olivia Pope lives.

So there you have it, folks...

The first real evidence that Olivia Pope is the President's mistress.


What's our next move?

Start a k*ll folder on Olivia Pope.

(Cell phone rings, beeps)

Who are you, and how did you get this number?

Harrison Wright, Pope and Associates.

Do you have something from Olivia?

No.

Then I don't know you.

But you know this town, and if the President was having an affair with someone who worked for him, someone who does favors for him, someone he does favors for, there are going to be sub-committees on the sub-committees.

There are gonna be special hearings that drag on for years.

And it doesn't matter if anything unethical happened.

He'll be lucky if this thing is over by the time he's cutting the ribbon on his library a decade from now.

It can't be Liv. For all our sakes, it can't be Liv.

As I've said, I don't know you.

Don't call me again.
(Beeps)

(Beep)

(Sighs)

Olivia Carolyn Pope.

Princeton undergrad, Georgetown law.

Yes, I was there.

I know.

Only child. Mother Maya was in a plane crash, d*ed when Olivia was 12.

Father Eli curates antiquities at the Smithsonian.

Has ever since graduating Princeton in '67.

Where are the family photos?

There are none.

It's a very private family, by all accounts.

Didn't hang with the Georgetown set.

Didn't have the dough. Her dad must have spent most of his income on boarding schools for his daughter, because she has been to nothing but the best...

St. Anne's, Surval Montreux...

But she never lived in the family home again after her mother's death.

(Clicks tongue) I never knew that about her.

We're thinking that's where she got the daddy issues.

Pope has a well-documented preference for powerful older men.

In fact, after college, she had quite the reputation as a party girl.

Did time on the D.C. circuit...

Ambassadors, lobbyists, cabinet secretaries...

A nice lineup of silver foxes.

She was working her way up the totem pole.

Enough!

Enough?

To play the ambitious slut card.

Good work.

Yeah.

(Papers shuffling)

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

(Cell phone chimes)

(Chimes)

(Clicks and beeps)

Hello?

What are you doing here?

Trying to help you, and given all the press that's gathered outside, you're in need.

I don't need your help!

So tell me, how's work?

Getting many new clients these days?

I'll ask the questions. Mm.

Where is Jake Ballard?

Olivia...

Where is Jake Ballard?

That's not a question you are at liberty to ask.

Where's Jake Ballard?!

Jake Ballard refused an order.

Where is he and what have you done with him?

(Sighs)

No one refuses an order in my business.

Now you may choose to not understand that.

You may choose to feel disgust at that.

You may choose to pretend that what you do and how you live is not made possible by what I do and how I live.

I do my job so that fatty can watch reality tv, eat fast food, stare at the Internet, screw their husbands or their battery-operated products, and never use their teeny, tiny brains to think about the freedoms that I make possible!

Never think about the democracy that I make possible!

They never think about it, so...

They sleep like babies at night.

Get on the plane, Olivia. You're running out of options.

I'm never out of options.

(Beeps) (Projector and camera shutter clicking)

(Exhales) (Door whirs)

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

(Clicking)
(Telephone rings)

Identification number.

3-zeta-5-1-9-Alpha.

Password?

Providence.

(Engine starts)

(Indistinct conversations)

(Indistinct conversations, clamoring)

(Beeps)

(Door whirs, opens)

Hi.

Hi.

(Door whirs, closes)

Tom.

Where's the President?

He's unavailable, sir.

I need to see him. Where is he?

We don't have a lot of time.

Do you realize what you've done?

I do.

You pulled the fire alarm.

I did. - That was a one-time thing, Liv, for extreme emergencies.

I know.

You can't ever use it again.

The codes are already being rewritten.

I know.

You don't work in the White House anymore!

You're not in the bubble anymore!

I can't get the N.S.A. to overlook you being issued a Providence key again, not now.

I understand.

If there is an att*ck... t*rror1st, chemical, nuclear... I can't get you!

You understand? You're on the outside.

You're dead, because you already pulled the fire alarm.

We're already under att*ck, and I'm already on the outside.

My name is out there!

We need to talk about how to fix this.

We need to make a plan.

Okay.

We can do that.

When all of us are here.

All of us?

You asked Cyrus to come?

No.

(Doors whirs, opens)

So... (Sighs)

Let's do this.

The president is with the first lady... in private.

Having personal... private time.

Fitz and Mellie?

Mm-hmm.

I'm sorry, you're saying the President is off with his wife, with Mellie... Mm-hmm.

(Under breath) For a quickie?

They didn't say how long... they'd be... sir.

I don't see what the problem is. It's the same plan as always.

Fitz and I hold hands and smile at Oprah or Barbara Walters. We do what we always do...

Act happy.

And we just deny it. Deny you.

That would have worked before.

Before what?

Before you got the bright idea to go on national television and tell the world I cheated on you.

You did cheat on me.

That's not the point.

It's exactly the point. - Not if you want to smile at Oprah.

I wouldn't need to smile at Oprah if you didn't screw your whore every chance you got.

Mellie. I know the situation is difficult. I do, and I'm so, so sorry.

But we have a job to do here, and in order for me to do my part effectively, I'm going to need you to refrain from referring to me as a whore, at least in front of my face, all right?

(Huffs)

Now... Mellie's already told the world you had an affair with someone, and my name has been leaked, so I am now the public face of that someone.

I don't know. We've got to figure out a way to change the narrative or...

Reclaim the narrative.

We tell the truth. We're looking for a way out.

Why aren't we looking for a way through?

Why don't we just stand up and tell the truth?

Mellie and I face the press, say, "Yes. I cheated.

I slept with Olivia Pope. I had an affair."

(Huffs)

Liv?

I'm thinking.

You and Mellie do a statement in the press room.

No. In the Rose Garden.

Full press, no questions.

You hold hands. Mellie wears a soft color...

Lavender or light blue.

You bring in the kids from boarding school, but you don't have them with you for the statement.

That always looks staged. The kids look like pawns and the parents seem opportunistic.

But the photo op after of you both meeting Jerry and Karen as they step off the chopper? That's Kennedy.

Perfect, especially if baby Teddy is running on the grass beside you.

The next day, you do one sit-down...

A full tell-all. I'd go with James.

He did the Mellie interview.

The public will like the story of seeing him talking to both of you now.

They like knowing that he's a family friend, plus Cyrus can control him.

12 hours before your sit-down with James, I'll release a paper statement.

"I regret my affair. I've apologized to Mellie.

I've prayed," blah, blah, blah, "trying to put the whole thing behind me," etcetera.

Barring any kind of special prosecutor probe into whether or not I was given any favors because of the relationship, the whole thing should be put to bed well before the primary elections are over.

It works.

The truth works.

The irony.

I'm sorry.

The truth does not work.

It does not work for me.

They're gonna want details, Fitz.

That's how this works.

The reporters, the special prosecutor... details.

Dates and times and locations.

When did the affair start? When did it end?

How long did it last? What happened when?

What did Mellie know, and when did she know it?

And... if all we had to talk about was a blue dress with a stain and a cigar that had been in interesting places, I'd be fine. I would not give a damn.

But I am not going to stand in the Rose Garden and hold your hand while you tell the White House press corps that you had an affair with Olivia Pope that lasted a year.

(Chuckles) And then ended and then started again and then ended and then started again.

And I am certainly not gonna sit in the Blue Room of the White House and hold your hand while you tell James how you couldn't keep your hands off her on the campaign trail, how the Secret Service drives you to her apartment in defiance of security protocols, how when you were sh*t, the name that you called out was "Olivia," or any of the many ways that you have degraded our marriage, because that is not you making a mistake.

That is not you cheating on me.

That is you... (Sighs)

That is me being in love with another woman.

(Breath shudders)

If you try to tell that disgusting fairy tale to the press, I will make such a scene.

I will open up our closet and I will pull out our laundry, and I will share it with the world.

I am that... tired.

(Inhales and exhales deeply)

How many times?

What?

How many times did Fitz and I sleep together?

Three? Five?

How many would you be okay with?

Two.

Okay.

Fitz and I slept together twice.

The first time was?

After I was elected.

You didn't get the job because we were sleeping together.

Might as well make sure nobody questions that.

So the first time was after you took office.

The night of the Inauguration.

Fitz and I attended four inaugural balls.

We were supposed to go to six, but Fitz said he was exhausted, and...

Honestly, so was I. It'd been a long day.

So... we came back to the White House.

And I went right to bed, but Fitz was just wired, so...

He went down to the Oval Office to just take it in...

Which is where he ran into you.

I'm guessing it was no coincidence, since he made a call from our bedroom, but let's leave that part out when we tell the story.

(Exhales) Let's just say that the two of you got to talking, and...

One thing led to another.

It was just sex.

It didn't mean anything.

And you felt terrible afterwards.

And it didn't happen again until...

(Gasps softly)

After you got sh*t.

Okay.

So... twice.

The first time was after the Inauguration, and then the second time...

After the assassination attempt.

You had sex...

Once...

After you recovered from your g*nsh*t wounds...

Because you were feeling your mortality.

Facing death.

(Exhales)

Once on inauguration night, and once after the assassination attempt.

I'm not lying.

It's still the truth.

Just not the whole truth.

Are we agreed?

Yeah. (Sighs softly)

Agreed.

(Inhales and exhales sharply)

(Pounds on door)

(Door clanks and whirs)

(Door whirs and clanks closed)

Liv...

I'm fine.

I'm sorry.

I know that wasn't easy for you.

I'm fine.

I'm not.

How are you?

Really?

I'm... fine.

Your name's a headline. You're not fine.

I tell my clients all the time that it's not personal.

The reporters... They're just doing their jobs.

It's not personal. It's not about me.

It's the story.

I'm fine.

Don't.

Don't. (Gasps)

(Gasps)

(Exhales)

(Gasps)

(Sobbing)

Mm-hmm.

(Continues sobbing)

(Sniffles)

(Pounds on door)

(Door whirs)

(Door whirs, clanks closed)

(Door opens)

Thanks for seeing me this morning, Sally.

(Door closes) Scotch?

A touch early for me, sir.

How was the Senate women's caucus?

Angry at you, but I handled them.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

I hope you've been using the time wisely.

I wrote a speech, taking full responsibility.

Mellie and I are facing the press at noon today.

Mellie's standing with you?

So your marriage will weather this storm.

There are the children to consider.

Well, that's...

I'm glad for you.

It's refreshing to hear a man valuing the family.

(Exhales)

Good men are hard to come by.

How is Dan these days?

Oh, fine.

Fine. (Sighs)

Moving to D.C. has been exciting for him.

My husband is having just a little bit more... fun...these days.

He's still the same Daniel Douglas. He's just... fun now.

I am the most powerful woman in the free world.

There are challenges associated with that.

Sally...

Yes, Mr. President?

After my speech, there will be a window.

Climb through it.

Be bold. Condemn me.

Make yourself the moral center of the party.

Use the moment to rise.

Can you do that?

Oh, I believe I can, Mr. President.

Why are you helping me?

Why are you extending kindness?

Because we are not married to one another.

Why did you schedule the press conference?

Because our President told me to.

Because you had a secret meeting.

They want to go public.

Again, aren't you part of "they" now?

One-third of some secret unholy political trinity.

They want to go public, and we need to stop them and fix this.

How? Presser's in three hours.

I think I have a plan.

It just needs to come from the outside.

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

I feel horrible about this. We're doing the right thing.

Olivia says what the right thing is.

Look, it's not too late to pull back.

Couldn't we just k*ll another intern?

It wouldn't be that hard.

A bad one. The worst one.

All right, we need to be united on this.

Are we united on this?

If I do this, we all do this.

You have to have my back.

Are we gladiators, or... are we b*tches?

I need to hear it.

(All) Gladiators.

Damn right.

(Projector and camera shutter clicking)

Hello, everyone.

Just a couple of details about the President's statement today.

Is he gonna admit to anything this time?

'Cause if it's just another duck...

I am not gonna comment on the content of the President's statement. That's not why I'm here.

I am here to remind you that we're going live today...

(Murmuring) At 12:04 from the... (Chuckles)

(Man) Turn that up. Okay, come on, you guys.

I think that Governor Grant has the election in the bag.

I mean, he really cares about the middle class.

His record on social issues really resonates with young people.

And... (Giggles) most importantly, he is freakin'
hot!

(Reporters shouting questions)

(Rick James' "Super Freak" playing)

(James) I'm reporting to you live from the White House, where counter to earlier erroneous reports of Olivia Pope being...

We now have two high-level White House officials just now confirming... that 26-year-old communications aide Jeannine Locke is the other woman in the Grant affair.


You have to believe me. People have to believe me.

I never... none of this... Any of it... is true.

I mean, yeah, I called him hot.

(Woman) Sources say there are multiple e-mails from Jeannine to friends detailing her strong feelings for the president.

My name, my picture are all over the tv.

My private e-mails.

Do I need a lawyer, Cy?

"Super awesome," "super cool," and "super doable"...

Just a few of the adjectives Locke used in e-mails to describe the President.


Guilty people call lawyers.

The White House will handle this.

I personally will handle this.

(James) ...With multiple sources also confirming Jeannine Locke and the President had what they describe as, quote, "a brief fling"...

You're not alone in this. We're all here for you.

You're part of the family.

(James) ...Those sources at the same time denying that Olivia Pope had any form of inappropriate relationship with the President.

One thing is clear... Olivia Pope is owed an apology.


Leading every net.

Of course it is.

♪ That girl's all right with me ♪

What did you do?

♪ Yeah

♪ hey, hey, hey, hey I don't care where he is, Lauren.

You find Cyrus and get his ass in the Oval now!

Calm down, honey.

What the hell is going on?

What the hell did Cyrus do?

What the hell did he do to that poor, innocent girl?

Jeannine?

She's a kid!

What did he do? It doesn't make any sense.

We have a press conference scheduled.

You and I need to get out to the Rose Garden in 20 minutes.

And then we have to amend our statements?

We should call the speechwriters, see if we can get them to change these remarks so it's clear that it wasn't Jeannine.

I don't think so.

What?

You could go out there and say that it wasn't Jeannine, that it was Olivia.

You could say someone must have made a mistake, gotten the story wrong.

You could. I won't be with you.

Cyrus won't stand by you. The Democrats would love that.

They'd open up a special investigation, dig through every e-mail, every promotion, every late-night call log from the oval, and then you'd get impeached.

Why are you so happy to jump on Cyrus' plan to ruin this girl's life?

"Cyrus' plan." No. See, leaking Jeannine's name was my plan.

It was this crazy idea I got from you.

From me?

Mm.

What?

After you leaked Olivia's name.

(Exhales)

The upsetting thing about being as educated as I am and as intelligent as I am is that being First Lady is profoundly boring.

What did you call me? Ornamental? Not functional?

I am a rose dying on the vine here.

Give me a w*r to run or the C.I.A. or something, but...

I use the copious amounts of free time I have to think.

And I have been thinking...

Who could have possibly leaked that name, and why?

And then I realized...

Who would benefit the most?

My idealistic, romantic, optimistic, idiotic husband.

Sir?

Shut the door, Tom. I need a favor.

You want another drink? You're buying.

(Indistinct conversations)

Good thing he's off tomorrow, huh?

No way, Tommy.

Who's this trusted advisor?

Mm... (Chuckles)

(Inhales)

Just between me and you, right?

It's Olivia Pope.

You thought if you leaked Olivia's name and then I stood next to you and held your hand and smiled while you told the press everything you did, that it would neutralize the situation.

What did you say in the bunker?

Stop looking for a way out and look for a way through?

Get me to play the good wife, control me, and by extension, the nation, because... and here's the best part...

You still somehow believe the country will eventually embrace you bringing your whore into the White House as First Lady.

And step one... leaking Liv's name. (Scoffs)

No.

Step one... was me coming to Blair house and laying my head in your lap like I gave a damn about your forgiveness.

This is a w*r, Mellie. You and I are at w*r.

What happened today is just one battle of many.

And let's be clear.

The reason I leaked Liv's name is because as long as you had her name in your arsenal of weapons, Olivia was at your mercy.

Now she is free.

Right now you're good.

You're golden.

You're in the clear, Liv.

There is nothing wrong with a little self-preservation.

It doesn't mean you don't wear the white hat.

We've got a client. Let's get to work.

It's Cyrus again, Jeannine. Just trying to catch you.

I know you must be scared, but just hold tight.

We'll get this whole thing straightened.

(g*n cocks, switch clicks)

Ooh. Sorry. Shoes on the covers. How rude of me.

Did you... is he...

Dead? (Chuckles) No.

He's just taking a little drug-induced nappy.

Baby's out, too. Didn't have to drug her.

That fancy swing you got in there's worth every penny.

What do you want, Charlie?

It's not what I want. You know how I work.

Always serving a higher purpose.

(Door creaks)

(Water dripping faintly)

I would have called, but I couldn't risk secret service being anywhere near the conversation we're about to have.

Trunk was very comfortable, thank you.

Thumbprint, please.
(Taps)

I need to break the seal on this, and I can't until I raise your security clearance.

(Beeps, whirs) Other hand.

(Whirs) And your signature.

So...

(Whirs) Charlie...

Came home to papa.

When the Republic is in danger, there's no place for spite.

If you're talking about the President's affair with Olivia... This is bigger than that.

What do you know... about Operation Remington?

Only that it was a classified mission that Fitz flew with Jake Ballard in Iran back when they were in the Navy.

Most of it's redacted.

This...
(Folder lands on table) is what really happened on that mission.

(Seal tears)

Oh, my God.

(Gasps)

(Projector and camera shutter clicks)
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