Condit Lashes Out at Media

ByABC News
August 25, 2001, 9:22 AM

Aug. 25 -- California Rep. Gary Condit says he didn't have an opportunity to fully express his sympathy toward the family of missing intern Chandra Levy during his televised interview with ABCNEWS' Connie Chung on Thursday night.

Condit said he originally hoped to clear the air about his involvement with Levy and his cooperation with the investigation into her disappearance. In an interview with Newsweek's top investigative reporter that appeared on the Internet on Friday, Condit said that Chung questioned him too long about the nature of his relationship with the missing intern.

He said he was waiting for Chung to ask him something "other than the sex question."

Condit also lashes out at news media for turning the case into a "soap-opera scandal to keep their ratings up," according to the Newsweek article.

"The press is not entitled to know everything about my private life or the private life of any other member of Congress," he said during the interview. "You're not the church, and you're not the court."

Democratic Leader Disappointed

Reaction from his constituents to Thursday night's exclusive national broadcast interview with ABCNEWS was mixed. But the interview with Chung appeared to do nothing to win over the media in his California district or to convince Democrats he has any political future.

The top Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, was sharply critical on Friday in his reaction to Condit's performance, calling it "disturbing and wrong."

"I'm disappointed," Gephardt said. "I think the most important thing in life and certainly in politics is credibility and I think, you know, if you want to be credible, you've got to be straightforward. And I think that was damaged and I'm sorry about that."

In the eyes of one Democratic consultant, Condit's career is finished.

"There were one or two nails in his coffin before last night, and as far as I'm concerned, he took the hammer and put them in," Democratic political adviser Bob Beckel said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "He's gone."