Police receive a false report of a disturbance. When they arrive, a woman's body is thrown down onto their car from a roof. The deceased was an undercover drugs cop named Dana Baker, the daughter of Senator Tom Baker. She had been on the trail of an Albanian crime boss, and was killed on his orders when a newspaper exposed her as a cop. The article in question was written by journalist Veronica Drake, who wanted to make a legitimate criticism of Senator Baker's pro-police bias. Her source said Dana had a cushy desk job and, unable to verify this with the NYPD, Drake ran the story.
Senator Baker thinks Eric Lund, the chief of staff for Baker's rival Congressman Jon Prescott, is vicious enough to have made the call to Drake. Drake's co-worker Ron Grayson confirms Lund contacted him with the story first, and it's also discovered someone from Lund's office made enquiries about Dana to the NYPD. Lund visits McCoy and tries to intimidate him into dropping the investigation, so McCoy has Green and Fontana arrest him. Branch is wary that it's premature and there won't be enough evidence for an indictment - making it look like Lund is being targeted over his controversial political views.
Lund's lawyer produces an email from Drake to Grayson about Dana being a police officer, supposedly sent before Lund called Grayson. Grayson admits he never saw the email, but he is too intimidated by Lund to testify. Lund's lawyer requests a hearing for prosecutorial misconduct, arguing that the DAs deliberately withheld the email from the defense. Even when Senator Baker confesses he'd inadvertently mentioned to friends that his daughter was a cop. McCoy still thinks there's something wrong with the email - which was on a hard drive seized from Lund. Sure enough, the hard drive proves to have been tampered with.
McCoy is made to look as bad as possible at the hearing, but refuses to drop the charges. He eventually discovers that one of the staff with access to the hard drive has a boyfriend who previously worked with Lund. Lund has a reputation for ruining the lives of people who cross him in any way, and was easily able to intimidate her into altering the drive. Lund is charged with manslaughter and additional charges of perjury and obstructing justice. He won't reveal if he was acting on Congressman Prescott's orders, and Prescott warns McCoy not to go down that line of investigation. Prescott hires a new campaign manager and publicly denounces Lund. The DAs feel that Prescott has got away with it, but accept that maybe this is a necessary price to pay for democracy.
This episode contains examples of:
- Darker and Edgier: This episode is one of the few times an officer fires his weapon.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Characters say Eric Lund has destroyed careers over perceived slights.
- The Dreaded: Eric Lund has this reputation as a campaign manager.
- Karma Houdini: The episode ends with the characters wondering if Prescott got off easy, even though we never learn if he had anything to do with Dana Baker's identity getting revealed.Borgia: Who's the real devil? Lund falls on his sword, while Prescott just climbs over him on his way to the top.McCoy: Politics.Branch: Democracy's still the worst form of government there is, except for all the rest.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Eric Lund more or less dares Jack McCoy to prosecute him, leading McCoy to prosecute him.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The episode is loosely based on Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent getting released.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Reporter Veronica Drake revealed Dana Baker was police officer because of her father, Tom Baker. Tom Baker had written a book condemning Congressman John Prescott and other politicians for cutting federal police overtime. His daughter being a police officer would reveal Tom Baker's bias. Drake was under the impression Dana Baker had a desk job.
