Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., is just now beginning to take some of the simple steps of common decency the American people expect of a congressman tied to a young, secret, missing lover.
Belatedly, he invited police to search his apartment for clues about missing intern Chandra Levy.
He has finally admitted what seemed obvious from the start – that he was having an affair with the young woman.
He even offered to provide a sample of his DNA to police.
But he refuses to take a wide-ranging polygraph. He refuses to step down from his office. And he refuses to answer the questions of the Levy family and its legal counsel.
Condit, and Condit alone, is responsible for creating suspicion about his own possible role in the disappearance of Chandra Levy. He has been less than candid and less than forthcoming with information from the start – particularly with the Levy family and the public.
Billy Martin, the Levy family attorney, told Larry King last week that Condit lied to the family from the start.
“‘Congressman Condit, do you know where my daughter is?'” Susan Levy asked, according to Martin, just a day or two after last hearing from Chandra. “‘And, more importantly, have you had an affair or were you having an affair with her?’ Larry, he lied. He misrepresented his relationship. He told her no,” said Martin.
Then there’s the strange way Condit responded to Susan Levy early on – according to a relative, even before anyone suspected Chandra Levy was missing. According to a report by Fox News’ Rita Cosby, whose work on the Levy-Condit case has been first-rate as always, when Susan Levy first asked Condit if he had any idea where her daughter was, he stunned and alarmed her by saying: “No, I don’t know where she’s at, but I’ll put up a $10,000 reward.”
Is this the kind of response one would expect before a missing-persons report was even filed? A bit premature, it would seem.
Here’s another problem for Condit. According to another Levy relative, one of the rules of the illicit relationship was that Chandra could not bring identification with her when she visited Condit’s apartment. Chandra Levy’s ID was found in her apartment.
Here’s another complication: There’s a report from CBS that Levy had a doctor’s appointment because she might be pregnant.
And now ABC News reports stewardess Anne Marie Smith is talking to federal prosecutors about whether Condit may have obstructed justice by asking her to sign an affidavit falsely denying their affair.
Does all this seem all-too familiar? This is history repeating itself. This is a replay of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair – full of lies, deceit, perjury, obstruction of justice and illicit sex between dirty old powerful men and impressionable young girls.
But there’s a difference, of course. Monica Lewinsky didn’t disappear. The blue dress may have, for awhile. Evidence may have vanished. But Monica was alive and well and very much a public figure.
Gary Condit has a much bigger problem than did President Clinton. There’s the little matter of the missing girl.
This is no time for coyness. It’s no time for spin. It’s no time for evasiveness and playing media games. For all we know, Chandra Levy’s life could be hanging in the balance. Time is of the essence – or should be.
Ironically, of course, Condit was one of the very few congressional Democrats who actually voted for an impeachment inquiry. He was righteously indignant back then because Clinton had an affair and lied about it under oath to protect himself.
It’s time to ask Condit what’s different now? Why is it that the public should tolerate his lies, his misbehavior, his deceit and who-knows-what-else from him? Why should he get the benefit of the doubt any longer? Why shouldn’t he step down? Why shouldn’t he take a lie-detector test and actually face questions from the family, as well? Why shouldn’t he just come clean publicly with all he knows?
The jig is up for Rep. Condit.
How would you feel about this case if you were the Levy family? Wouldn’t you believe a powerful man was using his position to dodge accountability that would be demanded of mere mortals who don’t serve in Congress?
We’re living with the legacy of the Clinton years. By not bringing him to justice sooner, swifter and with more finality and a higher price, we ensured as a nation that our leaders will continue to slide down the slippery slope of immorality and lack of accountability. Let’s not make the same mistake again.
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