Free The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer

know, there’re no problems,” Pam says hesitantly. “Why?”
    “Because at the Senior Staff meeting this morning, someone told me there are rumors floating around that Gimbel had an illegitimate child with one of his old secretaries. Apparently, he’s been sending them hush money for years.”
    The consequences quickly sink in. As the room falls silent, all eyes turn toward Pam. Simon’s going to hammer her on this one. “We’ve got an election that’s two months away,” he begins, his tone unnervingly composed, “and a President who just signed major legislation against deadbeat dads. So what do we do for an encore? We tell the world that Hartson’s current judicial candidate has intimate knowledge of our newest law.” Across the room, I see Julian and a few others laugh. “Don’t even snicker,” Simon warns. “In all the time I’ve been here, Ican’t remember the last time I’ve seen all three branches of government collide so embarrassingly.”
    “I’m sorry,” Pam says. “He never mentioned anything abou—”
    “Of course he didn’t mention it—that’s why it’s called a background check.” Simon’s voice remains calm, but he’s losing his patience. He must’ve taken plenty of heat in Senior Staff to be this worked up—and with Bartlett’s campaign slowly closing in, all the bigshots are on edge. “Isn’t that your job, Ms. Cooper? Isn’t that the point?”
    “Take it easy, Edgar,” a female voice interrupts. I turn to my right and see Caroline Penzler wagging a finger from the couch. Dressed in a cheap wool blazer despite the warm weather, the heavyset Caroline is Pam’s supervisor on nominations. She’s also one of the few people in the room who’s not afraid of Simon. “If Gimbel kept it quiet and there’s no paper trail, it’s almost impossible for us to know.”
    Appreciating the save, Pam nods a silent thank-you to her mentor.
    Still, Simon’s unimpressed. “She didn’t ask the right questions,” he blasts at Caroline. “That’s the only reason it went through your legs.”
    Caroline shoots an angry look at Simon. There’s a long history between these two. When Hartson first got elected, they were both up for the Counsel top spot. Caroline was a friend of the First Lady. She lobbied hard, but Simon won. And the white boys ruled. “Maybe you’re not appreciating the process,” Caroline says. “There’s a difference between asking the hard questions and asking every question under the sun.”
    “In an election year, there’s no difference. You know how opinions run—every little detail gets magnified. Which means every question’s an important question!”
    “I know how to do my job!” Caroline explodes.
    “That’s clearly up for debate,” Simon growls back.
    Refusing to let Caroline take the fall, Pam jumps back in. “Sir, I appreciate what you’re saying, but I’ve been calling him for days. He keeps saying he’s—”
    “I don’t want to hear it. If Gimbel doesn’t have the time, he doesn’t have the nomination. Besides, he’s a friend of the President. For that reason alone, he’ll sit for the questions.”
    “I tried, but he—”
    “He’s a friend of the President. He understands.”
    Before Pam can respond, someone else says, “That’s not true.” At the other end of the table, Deputy Counsel Lawrence Lamb continues, “He’s not a friend of the President.” A tall, thick man with crystal blue eyes and a long neck that cranes slightly lower from years of hunching over to talk to people, Lawrence Lamb has known President Hartson since their high school days in Florida. As a result, Lamb is one of the President’s closest friends and most trusted advisors. Which means he has what every one of us wants: the President’s ear. And if you have the ear, you have power. So when Lamb tells us that Gimbel isn’t a friend of the President, we know the argument’s over.
    “I thought they went to law school together,” Simon