John LeBoutillier
Tuesday September 4, 2001

For example, several of the alleged Condit mistresses have been reported as 'fearful' about going public with even the most rudimentary aspects of the affair.

There have been reports of 'threatening' phone calls.

There was also the very strange case of Otis Thomas, the minister/landscaper, and his daughter. That report, first published on the front page of the Washington Post, indicated that Ms. Thomas had had an affair with Condit, broke it off and then retreated - "out of fear" - into hiding.

Otis Thomas has since denied the entire story - but the Levy parents maintain that they believe the story as it was first reported. They also believe that 'pressure' and - again that word - 'fear' - is involved in the sudden retraction of the story.

For the longest time in this Condit-Chandra story - until the Connie Chung interview - most of the news media was 'afraid' to really go after Condit. Finally his self-immolation on national TV pretty much stripped him of the aura of 'power' that seemed to have protected him.

The D.C. cops, too, treated Condit with much too much respect and deference. Sure, he is a U.S. Congressman - and the D.C. cops depend totally on the Congress for their operating funds - but the run-around that Condit gave the cops must have tipped them off that the esteemed Congressman was jerking their chain.

Were the cops 'afraid' of losing crucial funds if they manhandled Condit?

What has been forgotten lately is that in his first interview with the police Condit conveniently forgot to mention that at the time Chandra went missing his wife, Carolyn Condit, was in D.C. The cops only learned of this potentially crucial fact when Condit's first lawyer, Joseph Cotchett, said on national TV, "Chandra may have slept over at the Congressman's apartment but, if she did, it was on the sofa because Mrs. Condit was in residence for that week."

After Cotchett said that on TV, the DC cops were reported to be furious that Condit had not told them that - and a second interview was quickly arranged.

Why was Condit so 'afraid' to tell the D.C. cops about his wife?

Why so much fear surrounding so many aspects of this case?

Who is threatening people?

We know that in the Clinton 1992 Bimbo Eruption phase, several of his ex-lovers indeed were physically threatened. Elizabeth Ward Gracen, a former Miss Arkansas and a former Miss America actually left the country for a while to avoid any trouble.

Sally Perdue, another ex-Clinton lover, was told to "keep her mouth shut or we'll break your legs."

In the Condit-Chandra Case, it appears that a sinister aroma of fear surrounds every aspect of this case.

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney need to probe the source of this fear - because it may lead to what happened to Chandra.

We need to know who is doing the threatening, what is being said, how is it being communicated?

Is Condit involved in instilling this sense of fear? Are his taxpayer paid Congressional staffers trying to muzzle witnesses? Is there a threat of violence involved?

Have any so-far unreported witnesses/ex-lovers actually been physically hurt? Is there a pattern of anger, excessive temper or physical threats?

Jim Robinson, Anne Marie Smith's lawyer, recounts Condit's anger the morning when Anne Marie saw the neckties under the bed. Condit took her back to bed - after he had already gotten ready for work - and had extremely 'rough sex' that morning with her - unlike any they had ever had before. Smith and Robinson told the FBI and the U.S. Attorney in July that they believed this was to 'punish' Anne Marie for asking about the ties.

The FBI was very interested in Condit's proclivity for angry outburts. What set him off? How out of control did he become?

Does the 'palpable sense of fear' surrounding this case originate from Condit himself? Is that cold, hard, humorless man we all saw on national TV 12 days ago the source of the fear that permeates this case?

We need to find out.