Scandal

The suspect goes by the name of "Charlie,"

no last name... an obvious alias.

He held a stash of dozens of forged IDs,

including one that gained him access

to the White House in recent months.

Secret Service has been informed.

His place of business has been secured

and protected as a crime scene.

Agents conducted a thorough search of the premises

for other devices that may have been used

to infiltrate Airforce Two systems.

There was a massive stockpile of electronics

that would've put RadioShack to shame.

The confiscated devices are being decrypted.

The suspect's associate briefly questioned and released,

but Quinn Perkins and Associates remains shut down

until further notice.

Is the suspect talking?

The suspect remains tight-lipped.

I've got to hand it to the man...

he's been remarkably resistant to our...

methods of persuasion.

This can all stop, Charlie.

Are you kidding? I've never felt better.

But you got to tell me, though...

are Bert and Ernie over there Moroccan?

'Cause I swear I had the same full-body treatment

at a hammam in Marrakech.

Are you ready to talk?

I told you, I'm being set up. I got nothing else to say.

Sorry, when I said ready to talk, I meant me to you.

I have no interest in keeping you here.

Seeing you in pain gives me no pleasure, truly.

I'm just a guy doing his job.

And my job today is to get you to walk out of here...

without handcuffs.

Oh, yeah? How's that gonna happen?

I offer you a deal. You sign, you go home... simple as that.

This is a con... This is a confession.

Filled with lies.

We know that you were hired to assassinate the Vice President.

We're not after you.

You sign this confession, and you're on your merry way.

We just need your signature,

affirming the person who hired you to kill Cyrus Beene was...

Mellie Grant.

Cyrus...

Man, wow.

You know, when that guy goes for it, I mean...

Hijacking his own plane, framing the President...

recruiting you.

Is it crowded in there? In his pocket? It's gotta be jammed.

You know, your ability to concoct

such a detailed conspiracy was really admirable.

But, unfortunately,

you aren't gonna be able to lie your way out of here.

Your only ticket home is punched with pen to paper.

I won't be used by Cyrus to impeach the President.

I'm not a traitor.

You'd be a patriot, a liberator...

and a free man.

Once Cyrus Beene moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,

you walk out this door, fully pardoned.

Sign the confession, Charlie.

Go to hell.

He's all yours.

- They took Charlie. - I know.

There are Feds at QPA.

They've arrested Charlie,

and now they're packing it into boxes.

Quinn, I'm so sorry...

You know I don't give a damn about Cyrus.

I don't care if he staged a hijacking for publicity.

- He wants the Oval. - And he can have it, for all I care,

but he can't have Charlie.

I understand.

You shouldn't have gone behind our backs.

I didn't think you would take the case

if you knew it was for me.

You're right... we wouldn't have.

But now it's not only for you anymore, is it?

What are you suggesting?

A partnership.

We have a common enemy, and whatever our differences,

right now, we put them aside.

- Of course. - And, Liv,

I want to make something clear. I am doing this for Charlie, not for you.

Understand?

I do.

Then let's not waste any more time.

Cyrus Beene hijacked his own plane.

And now he's framing Charlie.

This is a new low, even for Cyrus.

We need to tell Mellie that Cyrus is coming for her.

And that Charlie's innocent.

A President can fix that, right?

It's a hard sell, politically.

Not if we can prove that the special prosecutor

is in Cyrus's pocket.

Is that what we think?

Why is that so hard to believe?

Because it's Lonnie Mencken. The man's record is impeccable.

Cyrus hijacked a plane, framed an ex-spy,

and conflicted an attorney general out of investigating him.

Do you really think he would leave

the appointment of special prosecutor to chance?

Do you want to talk to Mellie or should I?

I want Charlie alive, so not Liv.

While you're working on Mellie,

the rest of us can look into Lonnie,

see if we can find anything that pries him away from Cyrus.

Whatever it takes to bring Charlie home safely.

He didn't sign it?

I'm afraid not.

We knew he'd be a tough nut to crack.

These old spies,

they'll never do anything they don't want to do.

All that damn training.

My men have training, too.

We need to be patient.

Is there anything else?

Wait.

We're doing this wrong.

It's not Charlie we should be pressuring.

Hey.

What're you doing?

We'll be discussing sensitive information.

We need privacy.

You can't be too careful

when everyone has a phone in their pocket.

So you're back now?

For this, I'm back.

Okay.

Are we ready?

- Alonzo Mencken, 64,

former U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Virginia.

Recently appointed Special Prosecutor

in charge of the investigation

into the hijacking of Air Force Two.

Ah. You know what he looks like.

Sorry. Couldn't find any of your sticky paper.

Lonnie graduated top of his class from Stanford Law,

where he met his wife.

They've managed to stay together all these years,

for better or for worse... and I mean worse.

Uh, 20 years ago, their only son, Adam,

was gunned down in a mass shooting at a mall.

Adam was 9. He died in Lonnie's arms.

I remember this. It inspired him to become a prosecutor.

He's dedicated his life

to keeping violent offenders behind bars.

All the while earning a reputation for being tough but fair.

I've protested a lot of crooked prosecutors in my day

but never Mencken.

He's the epitome of an honorable public servant.

So how does someone like that end up in Cyrus Beene's pocket?

Money troubles, maybe?

Has he recently received a Cézanne-sized delivery?

- Cézanne? - We think Cyrus might've used

the Cézanne Glackland gave him to fund...

We don't have to recap right now.

Does he have debts? Is he a gambler?

Has he made any large purchases?

Uh, he has a mortgage and some credit-card debt...

nothing out of the ordinary.

No shady transactions,

no secret offshore bank accounts,

no large deliveries to his house.

His web history is Boresville, too...

no weird porn sites,

no late-night visits to Craigslist.

He even keeps his SafeSearch on maximum setting.

The guy is a Goody Two-Shoes.

What?

Oh, damn it.

Don't worry. We'll keep at it...

No, it's... it's not that. It's my nanny.

Robin's ear infection is flaring up.

She's screaming her little face off.

Charlie was supposed to pick up the prescription drops,

but I guess he didn't get the chance.

Go. Do what you have to do.

Miss Perkins, hope I'm not disturbing you.

Let me get this straight.

You'd like Charlie to sign a confession

that would frame the President of the United States

for ordering him to hijack Air Force Two,

all in an effort to stage some horrifically calculated

assassination attempt on you?

More or less.

Yeah, there's no way in hell...

It isn't really asking too much, now, is it?

Let Charlie go.