Condit Will Run Again
Despite the calls for his resignation, Rep. Gary Condit's chief of staff says the California Democrat is ready to run again.
Mike Lynch said Monday during an interview on CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports that the congressman had decided to seek re-election some time ago and "those plans have not changed."
Three papers in Condit's district, including two that previously supported him, have called for him to step down for his conduct during the police search for missing former intern Chandra Levy, with whom Condit has been linked.
Levy, 24, who had served as an intern for the federal Bureau of Prisons, has been missing since May 1. Police have repeatedly said that Condit is not a suspect, but have searched his apartment and interviewed him four times. Investigators have also interviewed his wife.
Police sources have said Condit did not acknowledge a romantic relationship with Levy until his third interview. And police have rejected a privately administered lie detector test Condit took.
Condit is also under suspicion for obstructing justice by telling a flight attendant and a former staff member to keep quiet about alleged romantic trysts.
Lynch defended the congressman.
"Let me make very clear this is not a change in Congressman Condit's position or his strategy," Lynch said of his appearance on the show. "He has said since the beginning … he would make a comment at an appropriate time."
Condit appears to have the financial operation to finance another run. According to a Federal Elections Commission database, the Condit for Congress committee raised $180,315 in the first six months of this year, spent $111,810 and had more than $315,000 on hand.
Condit has won the past three elections with more than 65 percent of the vote.
Lynch repeatedly said he thought the media's focus should be on finding Levy, not on Condit's relationship with her. He denied that Condit asked his congressional staff to lie for him and declined to comment further.
The editorial pages of The Modesto Bee and The Fresno Bee, two newspapers in California's Central Valley, demanded Sunday that Condit resign, not because of any marital indiscretions, but because he had violated the public's trust.
Both The Modesto Bee and The Fresno Bee are owned by McClatchy newspaper group and both cover a significant portion of Condit's district. On Wednesday, Condit's hometown weekly newspaper, The Ceres Courier, also called for his resignation.
The Modesto Bee editorial, put on the newspaper's front page, called Condit's conduct during the search for Levy as "abhorrent."
"For 15 weeks, Condit has put his own interests ahead of the effort to find Levy," the newspaper wrote. "His self-absorption has been a lapse not only of judgment, but of human decency.
"ith Levy's life at stake, Condit knowingly hindered — if not obstructed — the police investigation into her disappearance, letting the trail grow cold," the paper wrote.
"We've been giving him the benefit of the doubt," Mark Vasche, executive editor at The Modesto Bee, said in an interview. "Just being upfront and honest with the people who time and time again placed their trust in him … We just came to the conclusion that he violated that trust."
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"It is terribly unfair and disappointing that the Bee would have come to any decision about me without first allowing the investigation to continue and hearing what I have to say," Condit said, adding that his "30 years in public service should have earned me that much consideration."
Condit said the newspapers have run false accusations about him before, only to correct them later.
Condit said the newspapers did not appreciate that he wanted to spend some time with his wife and children "before I sat down for any public interview." Condit said he hoped his constituents would hold off on making any judgment until they hear what he has to say, which he added he plans "to do very soon."
The statement concluded by saying, "As I always have done, I will rely on and live by the opinion and decision of those who I have been honored and privileged to serve."
The Washington police department continues its hunt for Levy. Last week, the woman's parents — who live in Condit's district and have accused him of holding back information — formed a support group for families of missing people.
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