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Friday, July 6, 2001

Linda Zamsky said her account of the relationship was based on conversations and meetings she had with her niece since last fall, when Levy disclosed she was having a relationship with Condit, The Washington Post reported.

Zamsky, who became Levy's confidante, said she was speaking out publicly for the first time out of frustration with Condit, D-Calif., whose aides continue to deny the 53-year old politician had a relationship with the 24-year old intern at the Bureau of Prisons.

"He was emphatic," Zamsky, relaying her conversations with Levy, said of Condit's caution over the liaison. "It had to remain secret. If anybody found out about this relationship, it was done, over, kaput."

Law enforcement officials Thursday interviewed Condit's wife, Carolyn, about the disappearance of Levy, missing now since the beginning of May.

The interview caused Condit to miss July 4 celebrations in his hometown, Modesto, Calif., as the lawmaker continued to help officials in their investigation.

His lawyers said Condit accompanied his wife to the Washington area in order to facilitate her meeting with investigators and consequently was unable to participate in the traditional Fourth of July events in Modesto.

They also appealed to the media to avoid "a frenzy" over the story and to stop digging around in "private family matters."

Condit has hired Marina Ein, a public relations expert, to improve relations with the media.

"None of these matters pertain to Ms. Levy's disappearance or the ability of law enforcement to determine what has happened to her," Condit's attorney Abbe D. Lowell said.

Condit Tuesday denied allegations that his lawyers had asked an alleged former girlfriend, flight attendant Anne Marie Smith, to deny an affair in a legal document. Smith made the allegations of the affair and the document in an interview with Fox News.

The congressman has faced tough scrutiny for divulging few details about what he knows about the Levy case. Lowell said Condit simply did not want to jeopardize the investigation.

The FBI and D.C. police are still treating their investigation as a missing persons case, but D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said a suicide by Levy now seemed unlikely, discounting one possible explanation of her disappearance.

"Zamsky's account places Condit at the center of Levy's life in Washington - a married man who gave her gifts, paid for a couple of plane trips to California, orchestrated their meetings and often spent weekends with her in his Adams Morgan apartment," the Post reported. The details contradict the account provided by Condit's aides and attorneys, who say there was no relationship.

Condit's chief of staff in Modesto, Calif., Mike Lynch, declined to comment on Zamsky's account of the relationship. He referred calls to Condit's public relations specialist, Ein, who also declined to comment on Zamsky's account, saying Condit's priority "is finding a young woman who seems to have vanished. The rest is sensationalism."

In a 90-minute interview, Zamsky, 40, spoke of the secretive relationship described to her by Levy. She said Levy relished Condit's attention, heeded his caution and treasured his gifts. Levy hoped Condit would marry her and even envisioned a life with children, the aunt said.

Levy first mentioned her relationship with Condit while visiting Zamsky at Thanksgiving, at her home on Maryland's Eastern Shore. She said she was in love with a man in Washington who worked for the government and had two kids, Zamsky said.

Levy said her lover looked "a bit like Harrison Ford … lean, in good shape, very conscientious about his body for a 53-year-old."

Asked how she got in touch with the man, Levy said she would dial a number and leave a message. "She said 'I would also call the office and they would answer, 'Gary Condit.' And that's how his name came out," Zamsky said.

Levy then confided that the relationship was already intimate.

Levy also described how Condit instructed her to avoid hinting to anyone in his building that she was visiting him. If she was in the elevator and someone pressed his floor, she was to press a different floor. If they asked if she was new in the building, she was told to say she was visiting a sick friend.

When they went out for dinner, Levy told her aunt, she would go downstairs first, hail a cab and then get inside. "Condit, whose apartment faces the street, would then come running down, wearing a baseball cap and jeans, and hop in. They would go to the suburbs, often for Thai food," Zamsky said.

In January, Zamsky said, she spoke to Levy by phone and her niece mentioned possibly moving in with Condit at some point.

In early April, Levy went to Zamsky's home for Passover and told her the relationship was progressing - she talked about carrying on a secretive affair for five years and then marrying Condit and having a baby.

Once, Levy showed Zamsky a gold bracelet she said the congressman had given her on Valentine's Day or Christmas.

The relationship seemed to become more serious in April, Zamsky said.

After Passover, Zamsky said, she did not talk to Levy for a couple of weeks. Then on April 29, the day before Levy was last seen, Levy left a message on Zamsky's voice mail. Zamsky would not hear from her niece again.

"Hi, Linda. This is Chandra. My internship is over," Levy said in the message. "I'm planning on packing my bags in the next week or 10 days. Heading home for a while. Don't know what I'm going to do this summer. And I really have some big news or something important to tell. Call me."

Zamsky said she did not know what Levy was referring to, but added that she did not seem upset.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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