Bill Press is a syndicated columnist and the co-host of CNN's Crossfire, which airs Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Bill Press: The congressman and the intern

By By Bill Press
Tribune Media Services

WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- It’s been two years since Monica Lewinsky, and the national press corps is hurting.

Sales are down, ratings are down, the number of readers and viewers are down. And, worse yet, with no sex scandal to write about, reporters might actually have to research weighty topics like campaign reform, Social Security or the patients’ bill of rights. God forbid!

Unless, of course, reporters are able to invent a new sex scandal. And it looks like that’s what they’re trying to do with Congressman Gary Condit and Chandra Levy.

Levy is a 24-year-old student from Modesto, California, who came to Washington last October to work as an intern with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. When her job ended in April, she made plans to return to California for college graduation: terminated the lease on her apartment, packed her bags, checked out of her health club -- and hasn't been seen since. The D.C. police department is investigating her disappearance.

Condit is the 53-year-old, married, Democratic Congressman from Modesto who befriended he young intern while she was in Washington - and put up a $10,000 reward for information about her whereabouts, once she was reported as a missing person. Police say he is not a suspect in the case.

Still, no wonder networks are salivating at the prospects of ratings. This story has the potential to be a real blockbuster: Chappaquiddick and Monica Lewinsky. Maybe a politician was having sex with an intern; and maybe the intern is dead.

What was the nature of their relationship? Was this another case of a married politician playing around with an intern? Through a spokesman, Condit describes her only as a “good friend” and denies any romantic involvement. But members of Levy’s family say she kidded about having a boyfriend connected with Congress. And Levy’s mother, who discovered several calls to the congressman’s unlisted number on her daughter’s cell phone bill, says flat out she was having an affair with Condit.

Whatever the evidence, or lack of -- it does seem likely Condit was dating the intern -- no one knows for sure, because Chandra Levy is missing.

And Gary Condit refuses to meet with the press. For eight weeks, he’s played cat-and-mouse with reporters, racing down back hallways, ducking into committee meetings, running away from TV cameras.

So, the big question is: should Gary Condit meet with the press or not? It’s not an easy question. I even argued on “Crossfire” that he has no obligation to talk to the media, if he doesn't want to. But, the more I think about it, the more I think he should speak out -- and do it soon. Sure, there are valid reasons for Condit’s not wanting to talk. Even as a member of Congress, he does have a right of privacy. Reporters do not have a right to pry into his bedroom. The media is more interested in finding an affair than finding a missing intern.

Once he does talk, it will be impossible to satisfy the media beast. Reporters will want to know every juicy, saucy detail of his relationship with Levy. And there will forever be videotape of his declaring: “I did not (or did) have sex with that woman, Ms. Levy.”

But there are two, more compelling, reasons why he must talk: To help find Chandra Levy, and to rehabilitate Gary Condit. No doubt, Condit’s been hurt politically. His strange behavior so far has raised too many questions. What’s he trying to hide? As the congressman from her district, why isn't he demanding that the police and FBI do everything they can to find her? Why did he wait so long to be interviewed by police a second time?

There’s only one man who can answer those questions. There’s also only one man who can get the media spotlight back where it belongs -- on locating Chandra Levy.

Where is she? Did she run away? Did she commit suicide? Was she the victim of foul play? Is there any connection between her disappearance and 557 others reported missing in Washington so far this year?

If Gary Condit really wants reporters to ask the second set of questions, he must begin by answering the first.

Holding a news conference is the only way Congressman Condit can clear the air and focus everyone’s attention on finding a missing intern. If it’s also uncomfortable for him to have to talk about his relationship with her, too bad. He should have thought about that before he became her “good friend”.