Barbas loves what you’ve done for the network over the past couple of years.”
“Thank you Mr. Grivas,” replied Jeff. “The team did an excellent job with that piece. I will forward on your positive feedback to them when they get back.”
“They’re not already back from that podunk wasteland?” responded Christos. “Heck, I’d figure they’d be out of there as soon as they hit the off switches on their video cameras.”
“They should be back tomorrow,” responded Jeff. “No sooner had they completed filming the piece when a massive storm came in off the Bering Sea. It snowed for nearly five days straight bringing all air-travel to a standstill in the process. Fortunately, they were able to upload their video feeds to us from their hotel while they sat the storm out.”
“Hmm, well, again give them my best when they get back into the office,” said Christos.
“Speaking of videos Mr. Grivas, it’s actually the reason I called you,” replied Jeff, “My crack investigative reporter Dana Cogswell came by my office today to tell me about a disturbing video she received this morning. I wanted to discuss it with you as it has the potential to be quite explosive and damaging to the administration if it is authentic. It involves the Vice President’s attendance at the International Global Climate Change Conference down in Buenos Aires last week.”
“So what did our country’s chief lounge-lizard do this time?” questioned Christos.
“Well if the video is legitimate,” replied Jeff, “Vice President Houlton raped a young and unconscious woman in his hotel suite. And that’s just the half of it. Her lifeless body was found washed up on a local beach the next morning.”
“Jesus,” whispered Christos. “Have you personally viewed the video Jeff? Do you think your reporter may have her facts wrong?”
“No, I have not seen the video yet,” replied Jeff. “Ms. Cogswell is bringing over a copy of it to me later today, and as far as the possibility of her making a mistake, not a chance. She’s already viewed the tape and she vouches for her source that provided her with the tape.”
“Who provided her with the tape?” questioned Christos.
“She claimed “reporter’s privilege” and refused to provide any additional information other than the tape”, responded Jeff. “She claimed the video says it all.”
“You’re right Jeff,” said Christos. “I’m glad you called to give me a heads up. This video could prove to be very damaging for the administration if it is seen by the public. You commented that she was going to give you a copy of the video. That must mean there is more than one. Do you think she’d be willing to give us all of the copies she has if we were to agree to run this?”
“She might,” responded Jeff. “However, who’s to say that she won’t still keep her own private copy. Not to mention, her source has the original and assuredly additional copies.”
“Okay, get back to me once you’ve watched the video,” responded Christos. “Also, go ahead and ask her about getting any additional copies of the video. Feed her a line that suggests we will most likely run it, but that we want to be assured of exclusivity. In the meantime, I’ll talk to Mr. Barbas to see how he would like us to proceed. But as you and I both know, don’t expect this video to see the light of day. Mr. Barbas and some of his closest friends have a lot invested in this administration and their global policies. Regrettably we will most likely end up needing to squash this story. Hopefully your reporter will
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