James Nathanson

An ex-CIA agent, Nathanson is the person behind the plot to detonate twenty canisters of Sentox nerve gas while in the hands of Russian terrorists. By doing this, Nathanson hoped to eradicate the one of the world's elite terrorist regimes and increase American interests in Asia. However, the plot required direct communication with the terrorist factions, which is seen as treason by many government officials. His accomplice in this scheme was President Logan's Chief of Staff, Walt Cummings. When David Palmer found out about this plan, Nathanson had him assassinated, and attempted to frame Jack Bauer for it. With so many factors going against Nathanson and Cummings, the Sentox operation was discovered by the terrorists ahead of time, which allowed them to obtain the nerve gas without incident.

Eventually, Cummings was compromised, and the terrorists' leader, Vladimir Bierko, realized that Nathanson was Cummings' contact. In other words, Nathanson was a clear traitor to Bierko's operation, and the man responsible for nearly selfdestructing the nerve gas while in the terrorists' hands. In order to prevent further security risks, Bierko orders Nathanson's death.

In order to protect himself, Nathanson prepared to strike a deal with CTU agent Jack Bauer. At the meeting place, Nathanson is killed by Bierko's henchmen. Just before dying, he gave Bauer a computer chip with information about the canisters. Also before his death, he hinted that Walt Cummings was not the only member of Logan's administration in on the plan.