American tax officials

"Alright, Inspector David, I'll be going now. Please feel free to contact me if you need anything."

After Kachira left, David immediately picked up the phone and said, "This is David."

"David, I just received a call from the White House. President Patrick wants to speak with us, presumably about this scandal. What do you think?"

Obadiah's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"The president wants to talk to us..."

David narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

Judging from various sources, the White House is essentially at its wit's end due to this scandal.

The reason for calling them over to talk at this time is definitely not because they resigned under pressure.

If Patten were to resign, he would certainly convene a meeting with his cabinet members to announce it; there would be no need to discuss it with the IRS.

So it seems there's only one possibility: Patten wants to compromise in order to keep the presidency!

In an instant, David guessed it, and then replied, "In that case, I think we should go over there!"

David arranged things this way.

The main issue is that the other party took the initiative to target him this time.

If the other party is truly sensible, then there's no need to go through the cumbersome impeachment process in Congress, which would be the best outcome.

"Vertonghen, Donald, and I think so too. Why don't you go back to Washington first? We'll go to the White House together tomorrow morning!"

"Okay, I'll take a private jet back to Washington later."

……

Around 7 p.m.

Sullivan arrived at the White House, looking travel-worn. Pushing open the door to the President's office, he said to the melancholy-looking Patten, "Sir, I've reached an agreement with the Senate. They're willing to support Nuland's rise to power, we..."

"Stop talking!"

Before he could finish speaking, Patten interrupted him, saying, "Sullivan, I shouldn't have listened to you this time and gone after David."

"Sir, this..."

Sullivan was also speechless.

He spent the whole day 'arguing' with those old guys in the Senate, trying to get things sorted out with the FBI so he could make up for his previous strategic mistakes.

But now it seems that this is not enough to make up for Padden's actions.

But then again, it makes sense.

It was because of his previous lobbying that Paden decided to take action against David, but he never expected that the other party would have so much dirt on the White House and even on Paden himself.

Now that the other side has made a series of revelations, the current White House has been subjected to unprecedented criticism and condemnation. This cannot be remedied simply by winning over the Senate and replacing the FBI with their own director.

"Of course, while you bear some responsibility for this, I also bear some responsibility. Therefore, I intend to correct this mistake, and I hope you can understand what I am going to do next."

Hearing Paten's words, Sullivan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

He had known the president for many years and was a smart man, so he naturally realized that Paden was preparing to compromise with David. More seriously, he was likely to become a victim in the process.

Thinking of this, Sullivan panicked and hurriedly said, "No, sir, I've already convinced the senators. As long as Nuland controls the FBI, we can use its power to clear up those so-called dirt and regain the initiative..."

"Heh, Sullivan, you've been smart your whole life, how come you've suddenly become so muddle-headed? Do you really think that one FBI agent can turn the tide of the war and defeat David?"

Before his scandals were exposed, Paden still had a sliver of hope, believing that as the president of a country, David, no matter how arrogant, would never dare to openly break ties with him.

Unexpectedly, David not only had the courage, but had also secretly devised a plan to target him.

So now, he has absolutely no confidence in defeating David.

Sullivan's face turned ashen instantly, and at this moment he did indeed feel some regret. He regretted listening to the Freemason group's persuasion, and he also regretted that he had chosen to compete with David because of his arrogance, which led to this end.

According to Paden's suggestion, it's best to avoid negotiating with David. If he's made the scapegoat, all his hard work in his life will likely be for naught.

……

That night, the presidential scandal gripped the hearts of countless people across America, and many couldn't sleep.

The next morning, David returned to Washington and entered the headquarters' conference room, where all the top executives, including Obadiah Vertonghen, were already in place.

"After this one night, the White House scandal has escalated to a greater extent than we imagined. We've already done data comparisons, and it's even reached the level of influence of the Nicholas Watergate scandal. What do you all think?"

With David seated, Obadiah got straight to the point.

"The White House deserves it; who told them to listen to Sullivan's lobbying and interfere in our affairs!"

"The White House is in a difficult position right now, and if we add fuel to the fire at this time, it's not impossible for them to remove Patton from office."

"I support removing Paiden from power and putting Kachira in charge; it would be more beneficial for us."

"That's right..."

"..."

After some discussion, more than half of the senior officials present felt that it would be more beneficial for their IRS to remove Biden from office.

The reason is simple: if they oust Paiden, Kachira will be extremely grateful to their IRS after she takes office.

With the lesson learned from Paden, Kachira, who took over, certainly wouldn't dare to have any more ulterior motives and would definitely try her best to cooperate with the IRS in the future!

Obadiah nodded slightly, then turned to David and asked, "David, what do you think?"

"I share the same view as most of you here, but it depends on the White House's stance. If they are sensible, that would be best. If they are not and go to the point of impeachment, then we need to carefully consider the impact that would have..."

"You're right..."

In the following time, everyone had an in-depth discussion about the incident, and it wasn't until 10 o'clock that Obadiah ended the meeting.

They then got into their car with David and Vertonghen and headed towards the White House.

Twenty minutes later, the three arrived at the White House and were then taken to the Oval Office.

"Director Obadiah, Advisor Vertonghen, Inspector General David, I know you're all very busy. I hope I haven't disturbed your work?"

Padden stood up with a smile to greet the three of them. If someone didn't know better, they would think he had a very good relationship with them.

"If the president summons you, you must come, no matter how busy you are."

Obadiah replied with a smile.

"Come, come, sit down first, then we can talk!"

After the three were seated, Paten continued, "It's like this, I think we had a little misunderstanding before, but it's nothing serious. We're all serving the country, so I think we can talk about it. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Obadiah and Vertonghen did not respond, but instead looked at David in tacit agreement.

"Mr. President, as you said, we are all serving the country, so talking is definitely possible!"

Upon hearing this, both Paden and Wilder, who was standing to the side, breathed a sigh of relief.

They were genuinely afraid that David, who held the upper hand, would stubbornly refuse to budge.

Fortunately, judging from David's tone, there is still room for negotiation.

"That's right. We did have some misunderstandings about your purge in New York before, but now we all agree that your intentions were good, and you've taken action against those corrupt and tax-evading officials..."

His conflict with David stemmed from this incident, and now, in order to make peace, Paden has taken the initiative to admit his mistake.

"Since the President believes this is the right thing to do, that's certainly excellent. Furthermore, I believe that the angry public's impression of you will change once they know you've shown support for this matter!"

David's words struck a chord with Patten.

Why did the Washington Post article provoke nationwide anger towards him after it was published?

Of course, his dirty deeds played a part in this, but another reason was that his lack of support for the New York purge was captured by the media.

Everyone felt that it was a good thing that the IRS was cracking down on corrupt officials and tax evaders in New York State.

How could the White House, as the highest governing body in the country, show such a lack of support for this?

Wouldn't that mean standing in the camp of those corrupt officials and colluding with them?

So if the White House were to come out and explicitly support this, it would indeed win back a lot of public support.

"Cough cough..."

Seeing that Paden was still lost in thought, Wilder coughed twice as a reminder.

Piden immediately realized what was happening and asked, "Inspector General David, if the White House were to explicitly support your actions in New York State, would Pinkman's side release a fourth or fifth article?"

"That depends on the president himself!"

"Chief Inspector David, what do you mean by that?"

Padden's face immediately darkened.

Logically speaking, since he has already admitted his mistake, David should at least give him some face and retract the article revealing the information.

But now the other party says it depends on me. What does that mean?

Are you still not going to give in?

Does he really want me to step down before he'll stop?

"Inspector General David, you know how much pressure the White House has withstood regarding the previous off-site tax avoidance bill and the current New York incident. Now, the President is preparing to publicly give you his full support. You should also be understanding of his situation!"

"He's been in politics for most of his life, serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and president. His experience in all aspects is unmatched by the younger generation!"

"With his strong support, whatever you want to do in the future will definitely achieve twice the results with half the effort!"

Wilder's words were very insightful.

He was telling David and the other two, "I know you guys definitely have the idea of ​​getting rid of Patten and replacing him with Vice President Kaczyla."

But Kaczynski is too young, and if she were to actually sit in the presidency, there would be many things she wouldn't be able to manage.

But it's different with Padden.

Although Patten has only been president for three years, he has been in Congress and various government departments for many years and can handle most matters, big and small.

In short, keeping Patten in office, while not the best option, is certainly the most effective one!

At this moment, David and his two companions naturally understood the meaning behind Wilder's words.

David did admit that if Paden truly sided with them and continued to hold that position to oversee things for them, they would achieve better results in pushing through legislation or doing other things in the future.

However, the Piedon factor is still too unstable.

His preferred thought was to get Paiden down and get Kachira up.

Although Paden has now stated that he will stand firmly on their side from now on, the key issue is that the other side made this decision only when they were almost desperate.

He wouldn't feel too at ease in such a situation.

What if they catch their breath and turn the tables on them later?

You have to understand, the presidency is a very powerful position, so how could David not be wary of it?

Therefore, replacing him with Kacilla is actually the safest option.

Kachi wasn't one of the three major corporations, and he was the one who promoted him. Plus, he didn't have the strong foundation that Paden had, so he was relatively easy to control!

Thinking of this, David said, "Chief of Staff Wilder, what you said makes sense, but we also have our own considerations and don't quite agree with your view."

"this……"

Seeing that David remained unmoved, Wilder's face turned extremely ugly.

But Padden was even uglier than him.

After a pause, Wilder continued, "Inspector General David, besides that, the FBI matter may also be of some dissatisfaction to you. But I can be frank with you, this wasn't entirely our president's intention. In fact, the main responsibility for this matter lies with Sullivan, and I believe you are aware of this. To show our sincerity, the White House can remove him from all his posts as a gesture of apology to you. What do you think?"

"Sullivan is relieved of his duties..."

A slight smile appeared on David's lips.

Sullivan is currently considered the leading figure among America's younger generation, yet he's being used as a scapegoat. Patten is really willing to sacrifice something.

However, putting himself in Padden's shoes, if sacrificing Sullivan could resolve the current crisis, then it would indeed be worthwhile. (End of Chapter)