"Eppur Si Muove" is the 104th episode of The West Wing, and sixteenth of its fifth season. It originally aired on NBC on March 3, 2004. Events center on a controversy relating to the National Institutes of Health, involving President Bartlet’s middle daughter Ellie. Written by Alexa Junge and directed by Llewellyn Wells, the episode contains guest appearances by Michael Gaston, Deirdre Lovejoy, and Cherry Jones, as well as the Muppet characters from Sesame Street. Plot Republican Congresswoman Barbara Layton (Cherry Jones) starts a campaign against publicly funded NIH projects into sexually transmitted infections. The attack is based on a list of seemingly useless projects, but by association, her real target becomes the president's daughter Ellie, who is working on a study into the human papillomavirus that researched conditions for sex workers in Puerto Rico. The President is infuriated at having a family member dragged into political battles, and Toby tries to discredit the attack by finding its source. At first the list seems to originate from a far-right group called the "Traditional Values Alliance", but Toby's assistant Rina uncovers an updated list that shows it came from within the administration. Toby immediately suspects the Vice President's office. When confronted, Will takes full responsibility, and assures that the list was compiled purely for internal use and not leaked on purpose. Will suspects that his boss might have leaked the material on purpose, however, and Russell in private agrees he has ties to the Republicans on health issues and notes that having some distance from the President isn't a bad thing for him. Will is left utterly disgusted with the Vice President. Meanwhile, President Bartlet tries to persuade Ellie to speak to the press to contain the incidence, but Ellie insists she is not as comfortable with the spotlight as the other members of the family. She later watches her mother make an airy appearance on Sesame Street to defend her right to practice medicine even after voluntarily giving up her license. This inspires her to follow her father's advice, and give a passionate public statement about the necessity of a politically independent scientific community. In parallel storylines, Josh tries to end a deadlock on the appointment of a Sixth Circuit judge. His old friend Eric Hayden (Gaston) has been waiting for a year for confirmation from the Republican-led Congress, and is offered the position of dean of Georgetown's law school.