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The other reporters stopped calling out for her as Katie posed her question. �I�m hearing things about 820 and how the ball is being passed to Josh Lyman when it�s been Sam Seaborn�s pet project from its inception. Why the shift?�
CJ fought hard to roll her eyes. �The ball has not been passed, nor has there been a shift of any kind. Josh Lyman and Sam Seaborn are two of the many people who are working around the clock to get 820 pushed through. Ian?�
�Congressman Winters has been incredibly vocal on the subject of hiring non-Democrats,� Ian said. CJ bit her tongue. Congressman Winters had been a pain in the ass of the Administration on every imaginable topic since he won his seat. Very few people believed he was actually a Democrat, and Josh was positive he was an evil Republican plant in the DNP but had yet to find a shred of evidence other than the man�s behaviour. �Does the White House have a comment on the Congressman�s opinion?�
�Congressman Winters was referring to the President�s decision to hire Republican Ainsley Hayes as Associate White House Council, and, yes, I have a comment on the subject, direct from President Bartlet,� CJ said. She had found a moment to talk to the President after Senior Staff and she had gotten the language okayed by Toby shortly after. �Ainsley Hayes impressed the President with how she handled herself on Capitol Beat against Deputy Communications Director, Sam Seaborn. She is a capable and dedicated attorney, who, yes, is a conservative Republican, but she serves at the pleasure of the President and she does it well. This Administration has no regrets regarding the decision to hire Miss Hayes, nor can anyone find a reason that the Congressman dislikes her so vehemently.� She paused. �Danny?�
�This actually ties back to Katie�s question about 820,� Danny said, his eyes gleaming the way they did when he knew something that CJ didn�t want him to know. �I have it on good authority that the ball has, in fact, been passed from Seaborn to Lyman and that this was done because Sam Seaborn is preparing to fly out to California to launch his bid for a seat in Congress from his home state.�
�There is absolutely no truth to that rumour, Danny, and I would think that you of all people would check your facts before coming in here with a question like that,� CJ said. �That�s all for this afternoon. See you all for your evening briefing where I�m hoping there will be more than water-cooler chatter to deal with.�
Sam left his office and dropped his paper on Public Education Reform on Ginger�s desk so she could get it to Toby. �He�s yelling at her now. You�re next,� Ginger warned.
�Thanks for the heads up,� Sam said before hurrying out of Communications. Josh was on the Hill and he was pretty sure that Donna would let him hide out in Josh�s office until Toby had gotten some of his anger out.
�Hey, congratulations, Congressman Seaborn,� Donna teased as he met up with her by the photo copier.