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."

Speaking today on ABCNEWS' This Week, Lowell, said the questions police asked his client covered all aspects of the relationship, such as, "How was [Condit's] contact with Miss Levy, and how did they meet, and how often did they get to see each other, and what was the nature of it."

Condit ‘Completely Cooperative’

Reports that a grand jury would hear evidence about Levy's disappearance are "simply wrong," Gainer said.

There is no need for the use of a grand jury to obtain records such as Condit's phone records, "because the congressman is being completely cooperative," Gainer said.

Police in cases such as these can go to a sitting grand jury if they choose to request access to someone's telephone records.

On This Week, Lowell did not say whether or not police have requested Condit's phone records. But he noted, "The police have never made a request to us that we have not satisfied."

"If the police asked us for anything, we would find the means to provide it," he said. "They don't have to subpoena us. They don't have to [get a] search warrant. They don't have to do that."

Police are investigating Levy's disappearance as a missing persons case, not a crime. But the investigation is being headed up by veteran homicide detectives and, outside of Washington, FBI agents. Gainer said police are exploring several theories about the disappearance.

"We feel very confident in the information that the congressman provided us with," Gainer said. "Unfortunately, it does not lead us to closer to figuring out where missing Chandra Levy is."

Police sources tell ABCNEWS that police are no closer to solving the case of the missing intern then when they started. They have no idea what has happened to Levy, and they have nothing to tie Condit to her disappearance.

Levy was last seen on April 30, when she canceled a gym membership in downtown Washington. Her last known communication — an e-mail to her parents in California — was received on May 1.

Gainer reiterated that Condit is not a suspect in the missing persons investigation, saying, "He was not a suspect before the third interview, during or after the interview."

Analysts: A Political Bombshell

Although police do not consider Condit a suspect, analysts believe the latest news could be damaging to his political standing.

They contend that Condit could have avoided problems that many of his constituents could be having with him by being much more forthright with the relationship.

"Congressman Condit is in increasing political danger back home," said Stu Rothenberg, a political analyst in Washington D.C. "Anytime you get unanswered questions, it leads to more questions and his standing just fundamentally becomes called into question."

"To talk to television cameras and issuing statements here is just not enough," he said. "There's no question in my mind that he's losing confidence back in his district."

ABCNEWS' Pierre Thomas and ABCNEWS Radio contributed to this report.