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The television series Scandal chronicles the life of Olivia Pope, who heads up Washington D. C.'s premier crisis management firm, Pope and Associates. Each episode follows Pope and her team as they clean up the messes that the rich and powerful leave behind. Pope's clients include powerful Senators and foreign dictators. They also include war veterans and lowly interns. Olivia is willing take on anyone, including the President of the United States, in order to protect her clients. Anyone in Washington D. C. who needs help protecting his or her reputation comes to Pope and Associates for help. Olivia and her team prevent private misconduct from becoming a public scandal.

As the plot of the series progresses, it becomes clear that Olivia has secrets of her own that she needs to keep under wraps. Prior to opening her crisis management firm, Olivia had served as the White House Press Secretary for President Fitzgerald Grant. Cyrus Beene, played by Jeff Perry, is the White House Chief of Staff and Olivia's mentor. He recruited her to work for Grant's presidential campaign and is responsible for Olivia's position in the White House after the campaign. During the campaign, Olivia had an affair with Grant. She leaves the White House when this is discovered. Her cases at Pope and Associates often bring her into direct conflict with Cyrus as she defends the reputations of people who are being scapegoated by the White House. At times, her history with the President and his staff can interfere with her work for her clients. U. S. Attorney David Rosen, played by Joshua Malina, is another antagonist. He has a positive working relationship with Olivia, but he takes his duty serious and strives to enforce the letter of the law. He keeps a close eye on the activities of Pope and Associates.

At Pope and Associates, Olivia has gathered a team of people who are intensely loyal to her. She has helped many of them out of tough spots in the past, and they are ready to go to the wall to help her. Harrison Wright, played by Columbus Short, is a lawyer who works with Olivia. When his previous employer was convicted of insider trading, Olivia defended Harrison pro bono. Due to her defense, he received a brief six month sentence. Abby Whelan, played by Darcy Stantchfield, is the daughter of a former governor of Virginia. Olivia helped her to escape from an abusive relationship in the past. She is now the firm's investigator. Huck, played by Guillermo Diaz, is a former CIA agent involved in black ops. Olivia found Huck living homeless on the streets. She won him over by bringing him coffee everyday. Now, he is the tech specialist for Pope and Associates. Quinn Perkins, played by Katie Lowes, is the newest member of the team. She is a young lawyer with a mysterious past. Olivia has given these individuals a second chance and has formed them into fierce team of fighters. The series explores the lives of each of these characters as they work on cases for Olivia.

Scandal is the brainchild of Shonda Rhimes, the creator and producer of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Rhimes based the character of Olivia Pope on the career of Judy Smith. Smith served as a press aide in the Bush administration and went on to found her own crisis management firm. She is also a co-excutive producer for the show. Scandal was first aired on April 5, 2012 as a mid-season replacement on the ABC network. It ran for seven episodes and was renewed for a second season. Guillermo Diaz was nominated for Favorite TV Actor