-Caveat Lector-
.
So Susan Levy 'misunderstood' and Condit has been married for 34
years. That explains his behavior? Well, he's certainly no Bill
Clinton for he cannot even lie well.
~Amelia~
Condit discusses ties to Levy
In an exclusive interview from Modesto, Calif., ABC News' Connie
Chung speaks with Rep. Gary Condit on Thursday regarding missing
intern Chandra Levy.
The stakes are running high for Rep. Gary Condit Thursday as he
takes his case to the American public for the first time. NBC's
David Bloom reports from Modesto.
MSNBC
Aug. 23 - In his first public statement about his
involvement with former intern Chandra Levy, a tense Rep. Gary
Condit said Thursday he had a "close relationship" with Levy for
five months, but repeatedly refused to say whether it was sexual in
nature. The embattled lawmaker told ABC News' Connie Chung that he
had nothing to do with Levy's disappearance and denied that his
silence on the matter hindered the police investigation.
CONDIT TOOK his case to the nation in a sometimes
combative 30-minute interview at a ranch in Modesto owned by a
friend of the California Democrat.
The interview opened with a series of rapid-fire, blunt
questions about Levy's vanishing. Condit denied he had anything to
do with her disappearance, knew anyone who wanted to harm her or
had caused anyone to harm her. "Did you kill Chandra Levy?" Chung
asked. "I did not," Condit said.
"We had a close relationship. I liked her very much," said
Condit when asked about the nature of his relationship with Levy.
But Condit repeatedly refused to say specifically whether
they were involved sexually. "Out of respect for my family, out of
a specific request by the Levy family, it is best that I not get
into the details of the relationship," he said.
During a protracted exchange with Chung over his refusal to
admit a sexual affair, a defensive Condit stuck to his silence on
the issue, saying only, "I've made some mistakes in my life. I'm
not a perfect man."
At one point during another tense volley with Chung, he
said: "I'm entitled to try to retain as much privacy as I can."
'I WAS NOT IN LOVE WITH HER'
Asked whether they were in love, Condit said: "I don't know
that she was in love with me. She never said so. And I was not in
love with her. He said the two never discussed getting married or
having children together.
While his family watched the interview on a monitor from a
separate room at the ranch, Condit said Levy never asked him to
leave his wife. "I've been married for 34 years, and I intend to
stay married to that woman as long as she'll have me."
Condit also related details of his final phone conversation
with Levy, which occurred several days before her disappearance on
May 1. They talked about her travel plans to California and Condit
said she did not seem upset. When he phoned her a day or two later,
Levy did not call back.
Levy's aunt, Linda Zamsky, has said her niece left an upbeat
message just before disappearing saying she had "big news" to
share. Zamsky said she has no idea what it was.
Condit also said he did not know what that news was.
August 23 - And what about the young woman at the heart of this
case? NBC's Fred Francis with the latest on the frustrating search
for Chandra Levy.
ABC agreed to several conditions limiting its coverage in
exchange for the exclusive interview, which was expected to draw
high ratings during the otherwise slow season of summer reruns.
The interview was "live to tape" - broadcast lingo that
means ABC will run the half-hour with no opportunity to edit what
Condit says and no time for Chung to follow up with more questions.
However, there were no restrictions on what Chung was
allowed to ask Condit, who has been in virtual seclusion at his
home in Ceres, Calif., during the monthlong congressional recess.
Levy's parents, Dr. Robert and Susan Levy, planned to watch
the ABC interview alone at their home in Modesto, said Judy Smith,
a spokeswoman for the family.
Baffled by the lack of clues about Levy's whereabouts,
Washington police have scaled back their investigation. Police
Chief Charles Ramsey has said there is a "significant chance" Levy
never will be found.
MORE INTERVIEWS
Condit, a 53-year-old married father of two, has chosen to
give at least five other interviews this week, including one with
People magazine, after refusing for weeks to speak in public about
his relationship with Levy.
Condit's staff said he would also speak to a TV station
near Modesto. A Sacramento television station, CBS affiliate KOVR,
said it had been selected by Condit for that interview, to be aired
Thursday night at 11 p.m. PT.
Condit also planned to talk to Newsweek magazine Friday and
do an interview with a Modesto-area newspaper.
TWO GOALS
Condit spokeswoman Marina Ein said the congressman had two
goals in his interviews. "His primary concern is to express his
personal pain with what has occurred and, secondarily, to correct
the record," Ein said.
Condit has been criticized by some of his congressional
colleagues and constituents for not publicly disclosing all he
knows about Levy. Three newspapers in his district have called for
his resignation.
The Gary Condit interview
Dan Abrams hosts a special report on MSNBC Cable, Thursday at 11
p.m. ET. Pollster Frank Luntz weighs in with viewers in Chicago and
NBC's Dan Lothian reports from a pro-Condit rally near Modesto.
Washington police have told NBC News that Condit has
privately acknowledged carrying on a romantic relationship with
Levy, who grew up in his district. But he did not do so until his
third interview with investigators.
Police have said repeatedly that Condit is not a suspect in
Levy's disappearance and that there is no proof a crime has been
committed.
Several political pundits have declared his political career
over, but his chief of staff has said Condit plans to run for his
seventh full term in the House next year. Condit, first elected in
a special election in 1989, won 67 percent of the vote last year.
Condit's most visible critics have been Levy's parents, who
have mounted a high-profile media campaign to pressure him to
reveal all he knows about their missing daughter.
NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert said it was vital
for Condit to "reconnect with the voters of his district" during
the interviews.
"He has to show real sympathy to the Levy family," Russert
said on MSNBC's "The News With Brian Williams."
Russert said Condit's staff was hoping Condit would convince
voters that "he is not this monster that has been portrayed for the
last three months" but instead was a "caring father and husband and
man who made a mistake."
LETTER TO CONSTITUENTS
As part of Condit's public relations efforts, constituents
in Condit's California district received a letter Thursday from the
lawmaker explaining his side of the ordeal and asking for their
support.
"Some suggest that not talking with the media could mean
I had something to do with Chandra's disappearance," Condit,
D-Calif., stated in the letter. "I did not. I pray that she has not
met the same fate as the other young women who have disappeared
from the same neighborhood."
Two other women from Levy's Washington neighborhood have
vanished in recent years, but police have said they have no
evidence that links the cases.
Later in the letter, Condit tells his constituents in the
Modesto area that "I hope you also will understand that I am not
perfect and have made my share of mistakes."
"I hope our relationship is strong enough to endure all of
this," Condit says as he concludes.
Condit did not say in the letter whether he had an affair
with his 24-year-old constituent, although he admitted to one in an
interview with investigators last month, a police source has said.
Text of Rep. Condit's letter
Condit said that he did not want to discuss his private life
publicly, "but things have gone on long enough." He said tabloids
had "turned the tragedy of Chandra's disappearance into a
spectacle, and rumors were reported as facts."
The letters, some 200,000 of them, began reaching
constituents' homes on Thursday.
They were addressed, "Dear Friends and Neighbors," and carry
a notice that says the letters were paid for by the Condit for
Congress election committee - not sent free of charge under his
congressional franking privilege.
REACTION IN MODESTO
Reaction to the letter was mixed.
Jacqeline Elrich, 33, a Modesto native, read Condit's letter
Thursday on the steps of the post office. She said she hoped to
hear on television what she did not find in the letter - an apology
for his actions.
"I would want him to say, 'I'm sorry I didn't come forward
right away with the truth. I was scared of what was going to happen
with my family and with my constituents, and I thought about my
political career and my personal life instead of this missing
woman,"' said Elrich, a political independent who has voted for
Condit before but said she will not do so again.
Joe Vasquez, a retired parks worker who was having coffee
and doughnuts Thursday morning at Connie's Donuts in Modesto, said
he thought the letter would help Condit.
Susan Levy, Chandra Levy's mother, receives Condit's letter in her
mailbox Thursday. After reading the first few lines, she decided to
finish the letter inside the privacy of her home.
"He probably had an affair with her, but I don't think he
had anything to do with her disappearance," Vasquez told The
Associated Press. He called Condit "a good representative for the
farmers, for everybody here."
But Jerry Bondshu, a Republican who has voted for Condit in
the past, said he believes the congressman is a liar.
"As far as I'm concerned, he should have come clean a lot
sooner. He's just trying to save his job," he told AP. "I don't
trust him any farther than I can throw him."
Harlan Brock, a former Condit supporter and 49-year-old
father of three, said the letter left him wanting more. He said it
did nothing to shake his belief that the congressman is hiding what
he knows about Levy's disappearance.
"I think he has more involvement than he says he has," Brock
said. "If you're innocent, why do you wait so long to prove it?"
Some of his supporters said Thursday he has told the public
enough.
"I don't have a need to know what Gary did with Chandra
Levy. We're not voyeurs, we don't need to know," said Lucille
Mejia, one of 60 supporters at a pro-Condit rally Thursday in
Merced, 40 miles south of Ceres. About other 15 people turned up to
oppose the congressman, and 30 reporters were on hand to cover the
event.
DR. ROBERT & SUSAN LEVY
These two residents of Modesto, Calif., have been vocal in their
search to find their missing daughter, Chandra, giving scores of
interviews and making several trips to Washington. The Levys, who
charge that Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., lied to them when he denied
that he was romantically involved with their daughter when they
spoke to him shortly after her disappearance, also hired
Washington, D.C., lawyer Billy Martin to represent them. Through
Martin, they have been pressuring Condit to take a
police-supervised lie detector test.
CHANDRA LEVY
The 24-year-old was in Washington to serve as an intern with the
federal Bureau of Prisons. A 1998 undergraduate in journalism at
California State University, San Francisco, she completed her
internship and was headed back to California to receive a masters'
degree from the University of Southern California when she was last
seen April 30, at her gym. A search of her apartment turned up her
packed luggage, jewelry, credit cards and $30 in cash. Only her
keys were missing. She had previously worked as an intern for
California Gov. Gray Davis and the Modesto Bee, her local
newspaper.
REP. GARY CONDIT
A conservative Democrat, Condit represents much of the Central
Valley of California, which includes the Levys' hometown. After
insisting in statements and through staffers that he and Levy were
just "good friends," Condit told police in his third interview that
the two had been involved in a romantic relationship. Washington,
D.C., police continue to say that Condit is not a suspect in Levy's
disappearance, but federal authorities are investigating whether he
may have obstructed justice or encouraged perjury in the
investigation by seeking to persuade another woman to deny an
affair with the congressman.
CAROLYN CONDIT
Condit's wife, Carolyn, spends most of her time in California,
rarely visiting Washington, D.C., but she was in town on the day
Chandra Levy is believed to have disappeared. FBI agents and D.C.
police interviewed Carolyn Condit on July 5, hoping she might be
able to shed some light on what happened to Levy. Karen Matthews, a
friend of the congressman's wife, told NBC News: "She is an
extremely sensitive, nice lady and I am sure she will cooperate as
much as she can." The Condits married when Gary Condit was 19. Even
amid intense media attention, residents in Condit's California
district told The Washington Post that Carolyn Condit has kept to
her normal routine, shopping and running errands.
BILLY MARTIN
Hired by the Levys, Martin is a a high-profile lawyer with the
Washington law firm of Dyer Ellis & Joseph. He has represented
boxer Riddick Bowe and Marcia Lewis, Monica Lewinsky's mother. He
spent a decade and a half as a federal prosecutor, including time
in the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, where he supervised a
grand jury that probed Mayor Marion Barry.
D.C. POLICE
The police force has taken a lead role in probing Chandra Levy's
disappearance. They have searched her apartment and questioned over
100 witnesses, including Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif. A key
coordinator in the case has been Executive Asst. Police Chief
Terrance Gainer, who has met with the Levys to update them on the
case. The police consider this a missing persons case, though they
have used a grand jury to collect evidence. No criminal charges
have been filed.
ABBE LOWELL
A high-profile defense lawyer in Washington who was among the legal
eagles hired by Bill Clinton to fend off impeachment, Lowell was
hired by Condit to counter the public relations blitz mounted by
Levy's parents. As Condit's mouthpiece, Lowell has repeatedly
declined to discuss what he considers personal matters while
emphasizing that his client is cooperating with investigators and
is not a suspect in Levy's disappearance. The congressman also
enlisted PR whiz Marina Ein to make sure his side of the story is
reflected in the media.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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