Condit Admits Sexual Relationship

July 8, 2001 -- After weeks of failing to disclose the information, Rep. Gary Condit admitted to police that he had a sexual relationship with missing intern Chandra Levy, ABCNEWS has learned.

Police still insist that the California congressman is not a suspect in the case of the missing 24-year-old former Federal Bureau of Prisons intern.

But in a third interview with police, Condit admitted having a sexual relationship with Levy that was ongoing at the time of her disappearance about two months ago, sources tell ABCNEWS. For weeks, the congressman had denied having had an affair with Levy and refused to define the relationship the two had.

A source close to the Levy family said today the family is outraged Condit took so long to clarify to authorities the nature of the relationship, and fear the delay may have hindered the investigation.

Public Figure, Private Lives

Condit's attorney went on the offensive today and said there were limits to what his client would say in public.

"He is not going to invade his family's private life," Condit's attorney Abbe Lowell said. "He's a public figure that is holding onto his private life. And so what he has said to police is important to act on, but it's not important for the media to glom onto."

At a press conference Saturday, Terrance Gainer, Washington's executive assistant police chief, would not provide details of what was said during the interview with Condit conducted Friday between 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. He said the congressman was "fully cooperative."

"There is a lot of clarity as to the relationship between the congressman and Levy and that is what we wanted — clarity," Gainer said. "He answered every question we put to him and we were very comfortable with his answers."

But Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for Washington D.C., said that police were being "politic in the sense of trying not to be accusatory of a public figure."

"It's quite obvious that he [Condit] has not cooperated with the police," diGenova said. "That he has withheld information from them and I'm quite sure that they are very suspicious of his actions."