Feds Explore Condit Obstruction Allegation
W A S H I N G T O N, July 10 -- A flight attendant who claims Rep. Gary Condit tried to get her to lie about an affair is headed to Washington as investigators consider whether the congressman may have tried to obstruct justice in the search for missing intern Chandra Levy.
United Airlines flight attendant Anne Marie Smith headed to the nation's capital from Seattle this afternoon to talk to federal prosecutors as part of a possible preliminary investigation.
The development came as Levy's parents and their lawyer called on Condit, D-Calif., to take a lie detector test. Condit attorney Abbe Lowell said Monday his client would consider such a request if police asked, but Lowell discounted the effectiveness of such tests.
Lowell also said that if police want to search Condit's apartment, they are welcome to. Police sources told ABCNEWS that investigators are likely to take him up on that offer.
Focus Turns to Flight Attendant
Condit has denied trying to pressure Smith. But she claimed last week that Condit and a private investigator working for him had pressed her to sign an affidavit denying a 10-month affair that she claims took place.
Prosecutors want to ask Smith about her communications with Condit. And they are likely to ask what, if anything, she knows about Levy.
Condit's alleged relationship with Smith has become an issue as police and FBI agents investigate his relationship with Levy, who has been missing for more than two months. After weeks of failing to disclose the true nature of his relationship with Levy, the married Condit, 53, admitted to police Friday that he had a sexual relationship with 24-year-old Levy, sources said.
Smith has said she knew nothing about any relationship Condit might have had with Levy, but claimed the congressman had told her she did not need to speak to the FBI about their own affair.
One of Condit's lawyers, Joseph Cotchett, released a statement last week refuting claims that anyone had pressured Smith on the congressman's behalf. Cotchett said his office had merely e-mailed her attorney a draft statement based on phone conversations "with the congressman's staff and the flight attendant."
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