Aunt: Levy, Condit had affair

(Published: Friday, July 06, 2001)

WASHINGTON -- Chandra Levy's aunt Thursday said her niece provided her with an extensive account of a relationship with Rep. Gary Condit, describing how the congressman went to great lengths to keep the liaison a secret and explicitly warned that he would stop seeing her if she told anyone.

Linda Zamsky's account of the relationship is based on conversations and meetings she said she had with Levy since fall, when the 24-year-old intern at the Bureau of Prisons first told Zamsky that she was having a relationship with Condit. Zamsky, who became Levy's confidante, said she is speaking out publicly out of frustration with Condit, whose aides have adamantly denied the existence of a romantic relationship.

"He was emphatic," Zamsky, relaying her conversations with Levy, said of Condit's caution. "It had to remain secret.

"If anybody found out about this relationship, it was done, over, kaput."

Condit's denials contradicted

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 details contradict the account provided by Condit's aides and attorneys, who say there was nothing beyond friendship.

Mike Lynch, Condit's chief of staff in Modesto, declined to comment on Zamsky's account. He referred calls to Marina Ein, a public relations specialist hired Thursday by Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Condit. Ein 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."

Zamsky's description of an affair, which has been provided to police and videotaped by investigators, raises the importance of Condit as a source of information on Levy. Police searching for a missing person generally focus on those who were closest to the individual, attempting to establish frame of mind, habits and behavior before the disappearance. In cases involving women who vanish, police pay particular attention to the person or people with whom they were last known to be having a sexual relationship.

In a 90-minute interview, Zamsky, 40, spoke of a secret relationship described to her by Levy. The picture painted by the aunt is of a woman who relished the attention of the older man, heeded his caution and treasured his gifts, which included a gold bracelet and Godiva chocolates. Levy hoped Condit would marry her and even envisioned a life with children, the aunt said.

The first mention of a romantic relationship took place at Thanksgiving, when Levy went to visit Zamsky in her home on Maryland's Eastern Shore. At the time, her niece emphasized the secretiveness of the affair and was reluctant to mention a name, said Zamsky, who is married to Levy's uncle.

"There was a look in her eyes. She was excited. She said he's here in Washington and he goes home occasionally. She said he's in government. She mentioned he had two kids," Zamsky said.

As they watched C-SPAN, Levy explained the dynamics of the House and Senate to her aunt and described her love interest as "looking a bit like Harrison Ford. She said he was lean, in good shape, worked out, very conscientious about his body for a 53-year-old."

"I asked, 'How do you get in touch with him if it's so secretive, this relationship?'" Zamsky recalled. "And she said, well -- and this is when she came and accidentally said his name to me. She would dial a number. It would play music, and she would 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."