Interview Transcript: Rep. Gary Condit

M O D E S T O, Calif., Aug. 23 -- ABCNEWS' Connie Chung spoke with Rep. Gary Condit on PrimeTime Thursday. The following is an unedited transcript of the interview:

CONNIE CHUNG Congressman Condit, do you know what happened to Chandra Levy?

REP. GARY CONDIT No, I do not.

CHUNG Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?

CONDIT No, I didn't.

CHUNG Did you say anything or do anything that could have caused her to drop out of sight?

CONDIT You know, Chandra and I never had a cross word.

CHUNG Do you have any idea if there was anyone who wanted to harm her?

CONDIT No.

CHUNG Did you cause anyone to harm her?

CONDIT No.

CHUNG Did you kill Chandra Levy?

CONDIT I did not.

CHUNG Can you describe your relationship? What exactly was your relationship with Chandra Levy?

CONDIT Well, I met Chandra … last, um, October. And we became very close. I met her in Washington, DC.

CHUNG Very close, meaning …?

CONDIT We had a close relationship. I liked her very much.

CHUNG May I ask you, was it a sexual relationship?

CONDIT Well, Connie, I've been married for 34 years, and I've not been a … a perfect man, and I've made my share of mistakes. But um, 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 uh, about Chandra Levy.

CHUNG Congressman Condit, do you recall when … it was during President Clinton's impeachment hearings, you called for, and I quote, "The public airing of every detail of his affair," saying, quote, "only when we strip away the cloak of secrecy and lay the facts on the table, can we begin to resolve this matter." Shouldn't those rules apply to yourself?

CONDIT Well, I've watched that clip, and I've heard that quote. My view of that is it's taken out of context. The fact of the matter is … is that the Starr report was there. And the Republicans were drip, drip, drip, releasing that report, and it was embarrassing …

CHUNG (Overlap) But we want to talk about you and not President Clinton.

CONDIT (Overlap) Well, let me finish. Yeah, let me finish … because it relates to President Clinton. And I asked that the Starr report, along with other people, be released in its total, so that we could get to the impeachment hearing. And the real issue here, that the media seems to have forgotten in this report many times, is that I voted four times not to impeach President Clinton. That's the real issue.

CHUNG (Overlap) We're not talking about that right now. What we're talking about is whether or not you will come forward to uh, lift this veil of suspicion that seems to have clouded you. Can you tell us … did you have a romantic relationship with Chandra Levy?

CONDIT Well, once again, I've been married 34 years. I have not been a perfect man. I have made mistakes in my life. But 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.

CHUNG Can you tell me this: was Chandra Levy in love with you? Were you in love with her?

CONDIT Well, I don't know that she was in love with me. She never said so. And I was not in love with her.

CHUNG Did she want to marry you and have your child?

CONDIT I only knew Chandra Levy for five months. And in that five months' period, we never had a discussion about a future, about children, about marriage. Any of those items never came up in that five-month period.

CHUNG Did you ever make promises to her?

CONDIT Never.

CHUNG Did she want you to leave your wife?

CONDIT No. I mean, I've been married for 34 years, and I intend to stay married to that woman as long as she'll have me.

CHUNG Um, I understand what you're saying regarding being specific about the relationship. However, don't you realize that part of the reason why you're in the situation that you're in is because that there have been ambiguous or uh, evasive answers to specific questions?

CONDIT Well, there has been no evasive, uh, answers to specific questions by me. I have, I have …

CHUNG (Overlap) Right now there is, sir.

CONDIT Well, no, there have not been. I have talked to the people who are responsible for finding Chandra Levy. I've been very specific. I've told them every detail in every interview about my relationship with Chandra Levy, and any of the questions that they had … have had to ask.