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This latest episode of the West Wing is the first of four shows leading up to the season finale, which is starting to look more and more like an impeachment showdown. The show opens with the President and his Chief of Staff meeting with a new character named Oliver, who is the White House counsel, and most likely the chief character that will educate viewers on how and why a President should be impeached.

Although impeachment- still fresh on the minds of many after the impeachment of President Clinton by the House of Representatives, and the impeachment trail in the U.S. Senate- is a complex and difficult procedure that is riddled with political and legal technicalities, the meetings with Oliver offered easy-to-understand facts about the process that will most likely be repeated in upcoming episodes. For example, Oliver explains that he, as White House Counsel, is not the President's personal attorney, but an attorney for the government. Therefore, there is no attorney client privilege between the President and the White House counsel's office, and anything they discuss can be used in an impeachment proceeding.

The President, however, believes that he is "clean" (that there is no public record on which he lied by declaring himself not to be ill), and, as a result, waives the opportunity for private representation. He then tells his story to Oliver, laying down the facts for why he and Leo believe that grounds for impeachment can be laid.

As it turns out, however, the President is not "clean." Charlie, the President's aide, already knows about the illness because his girlfriend Zoe, who is also the President's daughter, told him about it. While filling out his own college applications, Charlie discovers university records that the First Lady signed for Zoe, confirming that the President did not have multiple sclerosis. These university records, therefore, become the smoking gun, because they may prove that before winning the presidency, the President purposely did not disclose the fact he was ill; or as the prosecutors will say, "he purposely lied to cover up the illness in order to win the Presidency."

The stage now has been set for the unraveling of what may be considered by many to be a massive criminal conspiracy by President Bartlet to steal the last Presidential election by covering-up the fact that he has multiple sclerosis, a life-threatening, life-debilitating illness.

As this impeachment drama is taking place, the rest of the staff are either involved with helping to rescue an oil tanker that ran ashore off Rehoboth Beach, Delaware or focused on the collapse of the Mexican economy. However, both of these story lines are mere filler between the more interesting impeachment scenes. One interesting fact that did come out of the tanker story was that a Navy Aide, who appeared at the White House to meet with one of the staff, explained that any military person at the White House is required to wear his or her best uniform. Although this is true most of the time, there are exceptions to the rule. There are several military people assigned to work on a regular basis at the White House who are allowed to wear civilian clothing.

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Meantime, C.J. is busy trying to determine which White House official leaked a story to a newspaper. The leak had infuriated Toby, and he demanded that C.J. learn who leaked the story. It is the job of the press secretary not only to always stay in control of who in the White House speaks to the Press, but also to discover the source of any leaks. As portrayed by C.J., the task of uncovering a leak is not always an easy job. However, depicting the press secretary interviewing every staff member at the White House is probably excessive. The source can normally be pinpointed quickly, because the identities of those who have access to any sensitive information are usually well-known.

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