Rep. Condit 'Should Be A Suspect' In Intern Disappearance
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The congressman caught up in the case of a missing intern withheld crucial information from police and should be a suspect in her disappearance, a former federal prosecutor said on Sunday.
Police questioned Rep. Gary Condit, the 53-year-old Democrat from California, for a third time on Saturday and said afterward he had answered all their questions and was not a suspect in the disappearance of Chandra Levy, who was last seen April 30.
But Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told the "Fox News Sunday" program he believed Condit should be a suspect because he had withheld critical information regarding his relationship with the intern.
DiGenova, a Republican who was the lead prosecutor in many high profile cases, including that of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, also said he was "absolutely stunned" that district police had not searched Condit's apartment.
"I cannot believe that that was not one of the first things that the police did not ask him to do, especially in light of the fact that the congressman obviously lied to them in the first two interviews, and it wasn't until the third interview that he finally told the truth and admitted that he had a relationship with this missing person," the prosecutor said.
"This is a fundamentally important piece of information in a missing person case, forget whether or not it's a criminal case," diGenova added. "He withheld that information from the police over a number of weeks. It's absolutely outrageous. It is indefensible, and his explanation that he did it to protect his family is unbelievable."
"I think, at this point, far from being vindicated, he is the subject of more suspicion, and he should be," said the prosecutor.
Though police would not comment on the nature of the relationship between the congressman, who is married, and the 24-year-old intern, Levy's aunt said on Friday Condit was involved in a romantic relationship with Levy. CNN and Newsweek, citing law enforcement sources, reported Condit had acknowledged to police investigators that he had a sexual relationship with Levy.
Condit has been at the center of a furor surrounding Levy's disappearance shortly after she finished up a government internship in Washington. He represents Levy's hometown of Modesto in California. |
