Stephanie Vaughn (Jessica Tuck) is the main villainess from Scandal's fourth season opener, "Randy, Red, Superfreak, and Julia" (airdate September 25, 2014). She is a U.S. Senator who served as a client for Olivia Pope; Olivia's first since returning from her hiatus with Jake Ballard.
Vaughn's assistant, Kate Warner, appeared at Olivia's front door stating that Vaughn had been attempting to call her, with Vaughn stating that she may have killed Benjamin Sterling, another Senator. Vaughn stated that she was drinking with Sterling when he became aggressive and sexually assaulted her, leading to Vaughn throwing him over a balcony. However, Olivia saw Sterling's hand move, revealing that he was alive but badly injured; after which she called an ambulance.
During Vaughn's interview about the assault, Olivia quickly sensed that she was lying about the assault, and after Quinn Perkins phoned Olivia and stated that Sterling had a type when it came to his women: young brunettes. This led to the correct deduction that Kate, not Vaughn, was raped by Sterling, and that Vaughn was covering for her. But as the episode progressed, it was revealed that Vaughn's concern was a cover for her true role as a callous and calculating villainess.
As revealed by Olivia, Vaughn had known about Sterling's sexual habits, and knowing that he was the deciding factor in her quest to push the Equal Pay vote, the evil Vaughn sent Kate to Sterling to appease him. Her villainous actions led to the sexual assault and near death of Sterling after Kate fought back, and the reveal saw Vaughn admit to her plan, voicing her desperation to get the vote. This was followed by Kate angrily confronting her boss regarding her actions, and the final scenes showed Olivia stating publicly that she would be representing Kate, though Vaughn's fate following her reveal was unknown.
Trivia[]
- Jessica Tuck also played villainess Joy McHugh on Castle, as well as serial killer Victoria Nolan on Rizzoli & Isles, and later appeared as the evil Andrea Brown on Stalker, and as villainous hacker/murderess Dr. Giana Luca on CSI: Cyber.
Quotes[]
- "I just thought... if this makes the vote go down easier, if this gets us equal pay... Do you know how rare it is to have a Republican president who supports a bill like this? I had to jump on it." (Stephanie Vaughn's reasoning for sending her assistant, Kate Warner, to be assaulted by Benjamin Sterling)