 On a whim , Zoe Barnes ( Kate Mara ) , a young reporter for the Washington Herald who is stuck covering trivial “ human interest ” stories , pays a late @-@ night visit to Frank at his home . She offers to be Frank ’ s undercover <unk> in the press in exchange for the elevated profile that she would gain from breaking substantive stories . Meanwhile , Peter Russo ( Corey <unk> ) , a young , inexperienced congressman from Philadelphia , is arrested for drunk driving . Stamper finds out about the arrest and immediately contacts the D.C. police commissioner , offering Underwood ’ s support for his mayoral campaign in exchange for releasing Russo and completely covering up the incident . Russo is picked up from jail by his secretary and romantic partner , Christina Gallagher ( Kristen <unk> ) . He lies to her , telling her that he was alone when he was arrested when , in fact , there was a prostitute in the car ( Rachel <unk> ) . 
