Condit's media blitz found lacking

MODESTO, California (CNN) -- Rep. Gary Condit's media blitz, designed as an exercise in political damage control after four months of public silence over the disappearance of Chandra Levy, upset both the family of the missing Washington intern and Condit's own leader in the House.

Speaking to reporters in St. Louis on Friday, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, said the California Democrat's lack of candor in his interview Thursday with ABC's Connie Chung was "disturbing" and "wrong."

"I think the most important thing in life, and certainly politics, is credibility," Gephardt said. "If you want to be credible, you have to be straightforward, and I think that was damaged."

"It all adds to the general perception that politics are no good and politicians are a bunch of bums," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

VIDEO Listen to the entire Condit interview with affiliate KOVR/SBG (part 1) (August 24) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Condit interview with affiliate KOVR/SBG (part 2) (August 24) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES Point-counterpoint: The Condit interviews   Californians react to Condit interview   Connie Chung 'shocked'     EXTRA INFORMATION Transcript: Gary Condit interview   Key players   Timeline   Profile: Gary Condit     RESOURCES On the Scene: Bill Schneider: Condit letter offers no apologies for behavior   Message Board: The case of the missing intern     QUICKVOTE Should Rep. Gary Condit resign? Yes No View Results

But Condit attorney Abbe Lowell defended his client's performance on his first national television interview and was critical of Chung. Lowell said Chung wasted too much of the interview trying to get Condit to say the "S" word, referring to sex.

Appearing Friday night on CNN's Larry King Live, Lowell said he wanted to clarify Condit's denial when asked about Ann Marie Smith's claim of a relationship with the congressman.

"Anne Marie Smith may have considered her dealings with Congressman Condit to be 'a relationship,'" said Lowell. "What Congressman Condit was trying to say was that whatever their dealings were, whatever they shared, whatever they were to each other, it wasn't a 'relationship.'"

In interviews with ABC, Sacramento television station KOVR and People magazine, Condit refused to discuss details about his relationship with Levy, beyond an admission that "I have not been a perfect man." However, he insisted that he had cooperated with police and truthfully answered all of their questions, and he said he still plans to proceed with a 2002 re-election bid.

In the issue of People that hit newsstands Friday, Condit said he thinks it's "unfair" that Levy's parents, Robert and Susan, have accused him of acting suspiciously.

"My heart aches for them every day. But you know what? They don't have any reason to be suspicious of me. I would never do anything to harm Chandra. And I think it's unfair when they make references to maybe I had something to do with the disappearance. It's not correct."

"Next to them and their family, I'm probably hoping to find Chandra more than anyone else," he told People.

In an interview with Sacramento television station KOVR on Thursday, broadcast nationally Friday on CNN's Burden of Proof, Condit said he was "very distraught, very upset and concerned that she's missing and it's been four months.

"After all the effort that myself and many other people have made, she's still disappeared after four months. It's very disheartening."

Asked if he wanted to apologize to his constituents, he said, "If I've hurt or offended anyone, I certainly would apologize for that." But he said the media should also apologize for its role in creating a firestorm that has caused him significant political damage.

"When you jump to innuendoes and unnamed sources, you have to take some responsibility," Condit said.

A source close to the Levy family told CNN that family members were "very upset" by Condit's interview with Chung, in which he declined to disclose details about his relationship with Chandra Levy. Michael Maistelman, Levy's cousin, called Condit's performance "outrageous."

"He has the audacity to come on national television and basically deny things, make allegations that my cousins are either stupid or lying, make allegations that police are either stupid or lying," Maistelman said. "Obviously, his career is more important than my 24-year-old cousin."

Leaving the family home in Modesto, California, on Friday morning, Robert Levy drove away without answering any media questions.

The family's Washington attorney, Billy Martin, accused Condit of being "dishonest in his answers." Assistant Chief Terrence Gainer of the D.C. Metropolitan Police termed Condit's interview "a lot of bobbing and weaving."

"His answers to police were similar to the ones he gave to Connie Chung," Gainer said. "She was pulling teeth, and so were we."

In his ABC interview, Condit said he did not lie to Susan Levy, who claims that Condit told her "no" when she asked him directly whether he was having an affair with her daughter.

"She did not ask me that question," Condit said. "I told Mrs. Levy the truth. I'm sorry and I regret if she misunderstood what I had to say."

In his interview with People, Condit said, "She named some people who she thought might be involved with Chandra. My name was not mentioned. ... She asked me about other members of Congress."

But Martin, in an interview on ABC's Nightline and in conversations with reporters afterward, said Susan Levy was "very clear" that she asked that question.

"Mrs. Levy will not back away," he said. "She told me I was authorized to say that if Gary Condit says she is mistaken, he is lying."

During his interview with ABC, Condit was also asked about statements by Chandra Levy's aunt, Linda Zamsky, that the missing intern had told her that she and Condit had discussed marriage and children. "I never had those conversations, so I don't know where the aunt got that," said Condit, who, while declining to discuss details of his relationship with Levy, said he was not in love with her and never had any intention of leaving his wife of 34 years, Carolyn.

"Zamsky is very clear," Martin said. "She had a long conversation with Chandra where Chandra was telling her, 'I love this man. We have a meaningful relationship. I've told him I want to have children. He loves me enough to agree to it. He cares enough about me to agree that I can have a child.'"

Condit also insisted that he had answered all of the questions put to him by investigators in all four of his police interviews, including questions about his relationship with Levy. He told KOVR that allegations that he revealed the true nature of the relationship only during the third interview were "misinformation that's been spread through the press."

Asked for his reaction to Condit's assertions, Chief Charles Ramsey said, "I'm not going to get into a back-and-forth over what was said, what wasn't said."

"I'm not getting into the details of what we know, when we first found out and all that sort of thing. That would be inappropriate," Ramsey said.

Levy, 24, was last seen April 30 at her Washington gym. Police believe she was in her apartment on the morning of May 1, but there have been no traces of her since.

After four months of public silence, Condit, 53, who has represented California's Central Valley in Congress since 1989, launched a carefully planned media blitz this week to combat the political damage.

He mailed 200,000 letters to constituents, sat down for the broadcast interviews and gave interviews to People and Newsweek magazines and a local newspaper, the Merced Sun-Star.

On the cover of the issue of People that hit newsstands Friday, Condit appears with his wife by his side. According to the accompanying article, Carolyn Condit appeared for a pre-interview photo shoot "frail and uneasy, smiling tentatively at her husband as he placed an arm around her." She then left before the 90-minute interview was conducted. In all of his interviews, Condit insisted that, despite his public silence, he has been cooperating fully with law enforcement officials investigating Levy's disappearance. He told the Merced Sun-Star that during his interviews with police, he did not invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

But Condit refused to directly answer a central question: Did he have a romantic relationship with Chandra Levy?

"We had a close relationship. I liked her very much," he told Chung. But Condit said that because of a desire to respect his family's privacy, and due to a "specific request by the Levy family," he would not provide details about the nature of their relationship.

"I've been married 34 years. I have not been a perfect man. I have made mistakes in my life," he said.

Condit repeated that line four times to Chung. "I came to realize that this was something that he was going to say practically verbatim," she said, adding that she was "completely shocked" and "incredulous" by Condit's refusal to be more forthcoming.

The "specific request" from the Levy family cited by Condit was a statement made by Martin to CNN in which he said the family was not interested in hearing the details of his relationship with Levy. "The congressman felt that that was the Levys saying to him, 'Look, that's not for prime time,'" said Condit's attorney, Abbe Lowell, on Nightline. "We took it seriously and obeyed and thought we were honoring the wishes of the Levys."

Asked by reporters Friday about Condit's comments, President Bush said he did not watch the interview with Chung, though he was briefed on it by aides. He said the focus of attention should be on Levy, who has now been missing for 116 days.

"This isn't about a congressman or about a network. This is about a family who lost a daughter," he said. "I'm not worried about the gossip or the Washington whispers. I am worried about a young girl's life, and so should America be worried about a young girl's life."

In an interview with CNN Friday, Modesto, California, Mayor Carmen Sabatino said he thought Condit "did better than expected."

"The congressman has made himself a fugitive from the media. Last night I guess he turned himself in," Sabatino said. "I think he lacked specificity, and now I guess we're at a stage where we don't have any facts or evidence really to base a decision on."

"We have people calling each other liars. I don't know how we resolve that," he said.

Asked in his KOVR interview about his political future, Condit said he has "no intentions of changing my plans at this moment" to run for re-election in 2002 and will make a formal announcement "in a couple months."

"The voters will decide what the voters are going to do," he said.

Condit told People magazine that he would "sit down and talk to people in my district. I will talk to family. ... I will trust the people. They'll figure out what they think of this, what parts of it are important."