#// they are very thorough and informative but still well-structured and !!! i'm kinda struggling with that myself so!

[bartletslesbians]

Top 5 (or more) people who were involved in The Leak. I love your opinion/perspective on things, you've got such an interesting way of looking at things. This is really just an excuse to ask if you actually think Toby did it, and if not who else could have (or if he did leak it, if other people had more involvement than we know).

Ohhh oh okay. Yes. I love talking about this and I get anxious talking about this because this really seems to be the hot topic item in this fandom. And I do not hold a very popular opinion on it.

So to preface: I get why people don't like this storyline for Toby. That's fine. I personally think that he did it, and I think it makes a lot of sense for him to have done it; I don't think it's out of character, I don't think he covered for anyone. This is hopefully going to be a clear explanation as to why I think that, and why I like it for his character, but if you disagree that's not unexpected and completely fair.

I struggled to structure this, so I think I'm first gonna give you the actual answer to the top 5, and then at the end a more thorough thought process? Toby will be number 5 on the list because I think he did it and it'll be an easier transition to the longer explanation.

so

(and 2.) Claudia Jean Cregg (and Andrea Wyatt)

I'm putting them together because they are the most common alternative leakers I've seen in alternate theories. And I think that's a shame. CJ is involved, in a way, because without the conversation she had with Toby, he never would've known the information he had is worth leaking to the press. Something important there is that at that point in time, CJ suspected there was something of a military shuttle, but Kate, NASA, the President, and Hutchinson, were all unwilling to tell her anything except "well in theory we could build one, that's something we're capable of doing" with no confirmation. She goes to Toby not with a certain "I know this, do you know this?" question, but with a "I'm suspicious about this, do you know something about this?" where she hopes that he knows more than she does. And he does, cause he immediately knows what she's referring to even though she herself doesn't know as much yet.

I think that's an important distinction because there's a reason she could tell the white house counsel that she talked about this with Toby and not get in legal trouble, while Toby is very explicit that CJ was not the source of his knowledge of the military shuttle. They talked about it, but he knew of it before that conversation.

Still, without that conversation, he would not have been able to deduce that the military shuttle he was already aware of, was useful in this situation. That conversation clued him in that the shuttle could be used, wasn't being used, and he's smart (we saw him figure out MS so quickly), he could easily guess that the reason for not using it was the importance of secrecy. Hence, leaking it to push the administration into using it.

but for both CJ and Andy: I really kinda dislike the theory that either one of them leaked the information themselves, and Toby was just taking the fall. (Sidenote: I highly doubt Andy had any way of being aware of the shuttle, honestly.) Partially (and I'll get to that part later) because I think it takes away from what makes the leak so Toby for me, what makes it work. And partially because frankly I think it's insulting to say that the leak would destroy Toby's character too much, but to then pin it on someone else for who it would be a much more horrible thing to do, and act like that's not a worse character assassination.

Toby leaks the information and it's a self-sacrifice. Andy or CJ leaks it, but is too much of a coward to take the fall? Letting or making their ex-husband/father of kids or their best friend destroy his life for a crime they committed? That takes all the moral good to be found in the leak and just turns it into this insane act of cowardice and selfishness. CJ leaking this, and then letting Toby ruin himself so she can skip off to California with her new husband and a baby? That's a completely unforgivable act. And I think it's a shame that that's one of the more common explanations to 'save' Toby's character from what could be a very admirable act if he did it himself.

For CJ outside of this, I have so many thoughts about how the leak affects her desire to leave politics (for a while at least), and her relationship with the press and with Toby and with her own career. "First female white house chief of staff" is now gonna be followed with "in charge when her best friend committed one of the more egregious security leaks in modern history" and that shit hurts.

3. Josiah Bartlet

I think Jed was completely genuine about how angry he was with Toby about the leak. And I think part of that is the way it shows that Toby is more willing to do hard things to do good than Jed is, when that's something Jed wants to pride himself on. But also in general, when Jed finds out there was a leak at all, he's furious. It's a domestic and international disaster, and it's really such a personal betrayal and a way of saying you did wrong, I fixed it because you wouldn't. But especially also, Toby is the one he assigned to finding out who leaked it. It did not cross his mind that it was Toby. (and when the FBI points to CJ, Jed does not appear like he disagrees very heavily). I don't think Jed encouraged Toby to leak this at all; if he had I think it would've played out differently (there would've been even less reason to drag the investigation out a month before confessing, for example; it could've spared the democratic party and the white house and CJ herself a whole lot of headaches).

4. David Ziegler

Toby's source, beloved.

I do believe David is where Toby got it from. And while that technically is a crime, I think the reason Toby is so insistent to his lawyer and the prosecutor that it wasn't David (whereas to CJ he readily admits that David did tell him about a military shuttle), is because it was never ever intended as a crime or as something of any importance. They describe it as brotherly one-upmanship, and I find that very believable; two brothers bragging a little about their importance in the world, the younger brother wanting to show off what he knows. And that's supposed to be it! David had no way of knowing there would ever be a situation in which Toby would find it necessary to leak that information; no way at all, and I tend to imagine that Toby knew that if he had, he wouldn't have told him anything. I think that's how it went: David told him, and because CJ asked him what David told him, Toby knew it was relevant.

5. And then there's Toby.

Who did it.

I think it's partially that David, his astronaut brother, had just killed himself. David died in his car, asphyxiation. These three astronauts are also about to choke to death. Toby was powerless to prevent David's death, but can save the astronauts. David gave him the key he has to save those astronauts. How could he not?

And partially it's just... it's what's right. The President has to weigh this against international agreements and alliances he's already broken but hasn't admitted he's broken with the military shuttle. Toby doesn't have to take that into account. He sees an opportunity to save three human lives while the administration is dragging their feet debating if that's worth the political and international fall-out, when for Toby there's no question about that. Of course that's worth it. That's worth everything, including his own freedom and career and relationships with his friends and his kids.

And I admire that. He sacrifices almost everything he has (cause he doesn't know nor expects a pardon to follow) to save lives. And I think that's what's taken away if you say he didn't do it, or he's taking the fall for someone else. I think the most interesting and admirable thing about this is that he did it, despite all the reasons many other people would have been too scared to do it.

I think one thing that bothers me about the ideas that CJ or Andy did it, or that Jed pushed him, is that it takes away a lot of the agency Toby has over this decision. It's important to me that it's a choice he made; not something other people made him do. I don't like the idea that it was a sacrifice he was pressured into making?

Something I also love is that he didn't ask for a pardon. Andy wanted him to have a pardon (and was the only one in the building saying this out loud, when everyone else was scared to broach the topic let alone mention it to CJ or the President), and then Jed himself asked for it. I love that detail. Toby doesn't seek the pardon, but it's given to him anyway because Jed's furious with him, but knows right from wrong. (Hilariously, I learned that you can technically reject a Presidential pardon. And I doubt he would, but I'd love to see a fic where Toby does that and Jed loses his mind even more, just for laughs.)

That said, I do understand specifically the complaint that there was no build-up for it, no arguments about it in the oval and such, and I do think it would've worked better if there had been, but it doesn't really bother me that there wasn't. In a way that kinda reminds me of Toby organizing the funeral for the homeless veteran using the President's name, without telling the President. There's no time to go round for round with it in the oval, he just acts and lets the consequences happen.

And also, having said all that, there is one thing that always really bothers me about this. And I don't think it's necessarily out of character, cause I think it makes sense to do something, but then become scared of the consequences until it becomes really pressing. But while I deeply admire him leaking the shuttle, I find it hard to fully forgive him for the month he let it drag on before confessing.

Aside from Brock, even. Specifically, the way he allowed CJ to lose her mind and be targeted as the suspect by the FBI, believed by the President, while he could've stopped that and let the inevitable happen a little sooner by just saying he did it. She's falling apart in front of his eyes and he doesn't say a word until he learns that Leo's about to be subpoenaed, and the that is the catalyst for him confessing to it. And I get that, honestly; I think doing something knowing the consequences is different from then seeing those consequences in action and that's scary as hell. But I also think her "you don't need a pardon, you need a frying pan to the head" was the least he deserved for doing that to her. I would have liked it better if he'd leaked it, and then marched into the white house counsel's office, or the oval office, or even CJ's office, the day the article came out, and said he did it.

I really love the CJ and Toby friendship through the seasons, which makes it all the more heartbreaking. I love imagining them close again post administration, but I also think that would've taken years of effort, and I find it just as easy to believe that they never get that comfortable with each other again. One thing I find so interesting about that is that CJ never gives her opinion on Toby getting the pardon; Jed asks what she thinks he should do, a reporter asks what she thinks about Jed having signed it, and she never answers. And I think that's such a complicated question for her.

Okay I hope that all made sense lmao. I am so very happy to talk about this more, if you think I missed anything (I barely touched Brock in this, I know, but I think ultimately that's different from the people involved from the administration) or have something to add! I enjoy writing about this storyline