the reporter asked. Dutch and Max stopped in their tracks, causing the others to stop too. Dutch glanced at Max. Max shrugged. Then Dutch walked back toward the press corps. As soon as he did, the reporter clarified his question. “Your wife’s brother, sir, has had his death sentence commuted to life after your wife intervened on his behalf. My question to you is, sir, why would she do such a thing, given his heinous crimes, and isn’t it a conflict of interest for her to have done so?” “My wife,” Dutch said, careful not to lose his cool, “did not intervene in any way on behalf of her half-brother, a brother she has never even met, or anyone else. I don’t know who fed you that story, but they fed you a load of garbage.” And then Dutch walked away, with Max, the Vice President, and the Speaker of the House, hurrying behind him. But Dutch wasn’t back inside the West Wing an hour before Max and Allison were coming into the Oval Office with more information. “It’s true, sir,”
