With the House and Senate getting ready to vote on a highly controversial new bill regarding Government power to investigate its citizens, the usual political machinations - blackmail and deceit - are being fully employed. Meanwhile, after a bungled investigation into an innocent Muslim family, Agent Jack Bauer has been demoted from the high priority field work he is used to and has instead been relegated to infiltrating a small, home-grown militia group with a view to closing them down. But some things don't add up, and Jack find himself embroiled in a convoluted plot against the President, desperately trying to work out whether or not the threat is real; and if it is, who is it coming from?