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Condit speaks
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times,
In his first broadcast interview since the disappearance, Condit, D-Calif., offered no apologies for his involvement with his 24-year-old constituent or his level of cooperation with police. "I've answered every question truthfully. That's what you're supposed to do when you're cooperating with the police," he told ABC's Connie Chung. The interview on Primetime Thursday, taped earlier Thursday in Modesto, Calif., was at times a contentious encounter. Chung's first question, "Do you know what happened to Chandra Levy?" elicited a terse "No, I do not," response. When asked point-blank by Chung, "Did you kill Chandra Levy?" Condit answered simply, "I did not." Condit kept his composure in answer to the pointed questions. His wife and two children watched from a monitor in a nearby room of the ranch, owned by a Condit friend in Modesto. Condit acknowledged that he and Levy shared "a close relationship. I liked her very much." But in response to numerous attempts by Chung to determine the nature of that relationship, Condit was adamant. "I've made my share of mistakes," he said. "But . . . out of respect for my family, and out of a specific request from the Levy family, I think it's best that I not get into those details . . . about Chandra Levy," he said. Condit said he was honoring a request by Dr. Robert and Susan Levy, who said they wanted information that would help find their daughter, not details of any relationship she had. Condit did provide some details. He said he met Levy in October and they spoke several times a week by telephone as they grew close. Condit said he wasn't in love with Levy, but he liked her very much and they never exchanged a cross word. The congressman took issue with several points made by Levy's relatives. Most significantly, he denied lying to Mrs. Levy about the nature of his relationship with her daughter. He also said he and Levy never discussed a future together, having children or getting married, contradicting statements from Levy's aunt, Linda Zamsky. Condit also denied that he had romantic relationships with two other women -- flight attendant Anne Marie Smith and former aide Joleen McKay -- who have publicly asserted they had affairs with the married, 53-year-old congressman. And Condit said he did not impose the strict secrecy rules that Zamsky said Levy related to her, rules that Smith, who claims a 10-month affair with Condit, also described. One of those rules was that when heading to a meeting with Condit, the woman was supposed to carry no identification. "I never, ever told anybody not to carry their identification," Condit said. Levy's identification, packed bags and other possessions were in her apartment when police searched it. In the crucial days before and after Levy disappeared, Condit provided a timeline of their contacts. They last saw each other April 24 or 25, he said, just after Levy's internship ended suddenly. They spoke for the final time on April 29, a conversation Condit said lasted a minute or so and encompassed Levy's plans to travel to California. "She wasn't upset about anything. She wasn't upset about losing her job," Condit said. Condit said he phoned her again a day or two later, but Levy never called back. Condit was unconcerned because Levy talked about taking the train to California, which would have taken several days. The next news he had was that she was missing. And it came from his wife, Carolyn, who received a call at home from Levy's father. "I was horrified," he said. The interview occurred hours after a letter from Condit to his constituents began arriving in mailboxes throughout his central California district. In the letter, Condit acknowledged "my share of mistakes" but did not say whether he had an affair with Levy. The congressman acknowledged an affair with Levy in an interview with investigators last month, a police source has said. "I hope our relationship is strong enough to endure all of this," Condit told his constituents in the letter, which was addressed, "Dear Friends and Neighbors." 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. Washington police, baffled by the lack of clues about Levy's whereabouts, have scaled back their investigation. Police Chief Charles Ramsey has said there is a "significant chance" she never will be found. Terrance W. Gainer, Washington's deputy police chief, reiterated that Condit is not a suspect. But he disputed Condit's assertion of early and complete cooperation with investigators following Levy's disappearance on May 1. "It took us three interviews and a lot of effort to get as far as we got," Gainer said Thursday night. -- Information from the Boston Globe was used in this report.
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