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Flight Attendant Says Condit Asked Her to Lie
Washington, D.C. — A flight attendant who said she had a long-term affair with Rep. Gary Condit says the congressman asked her to sign a declaration denying their relationship, and told her she did not need to talk to the FBI following the disappearance of Chandra Levy.
Anne Marie Smith, 39, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News that she refused to sign the draft of a declaration that was submitted by Condit attorneys to her lawyers, and insisted the California Democrat knew the document was a lie.
"Mr. Condit knew it was false and he was asking me to sign it and, I personally could never have signed it," Smith said in an interview on Monday. "I would never have signed it. And he was urging me to sign it, he said you don't want anything, this could be personally embarrassing for both of us."
Smith's lawyers on Monday evening supplied Fox News with a copy of what they said was a draft of the declaration. They said the document contained a note written by Don Thornton, an investigator who works with Condit's West Coast attorney.
Jim Robinson, Smith's attorney, claims to have had a phone conversation with Thornton in which the latter referred to the form as an "affidavit." Robinson says the document is indeed an affidavit, as opposed to a declaration, since it is composed of the specialized vocabulary of the legal profession called legalese.
Lawyers for Condit said on Monday night they did not know of any such document. Thornton spoke with Fox News and also denied any knowledge of the form.
AP
An investigator searches Chandra Levy's Washington apartment.
Condit lawyers have declined to comment on any relationship he may have had with Smith.
Smith also said she told Condit she had spoken to the FBI about the Levy case. "I left him a voicemail and I said, 'You need to call me, it's urgent,'" she said.
She said he called back the next day, and that he did not respond well when she told him what was happening.
"I said, I have been contacted by this agency, and I want you to know and I said, you know, it was just a routine questioning, they said they would keep my name confidential," she told Fox News.
"He was really upset with me, he said, 'Oh, I see how you are, I see what you're doing.' And I said, 'No, you know, I've never been in a situation like this.' ... He said 'You don't have to talk to the media, you don't have to talk to anybody. You don't even have to talk to the FBI.'"
Smith reportedly told the FBI she ended a year-long romantic relationship with Condit when she saw press reports about Levy, the missing Washington intern, a source close to the woman told Fox News.
Smith said she has not spoken to Condit since one or two weeks before the 24-year-old disappeared. Smith also said she knew the California Democrat was married and suspected he might be seeing someone else, but she didn't know for sure.
Smith also said Condit told her he was "lonely in Washington," with his chronically ill wife spending 99 percent of her time in California.
Condit has been the subject of much media and law enforcement attention in the weeks since he "broke off his close friendship" with Levy. He broke off the friendship only two days before she disappeared, the congressman told investigators, according to Fox News police sources.
The congressman provided the new details about his relationship with Levy in a second, hour-long interview with police, but stopped short of saying whether he and the 24-year-old had a romantic relationship, the sources said. Condit did, however, strongly hint the two had been lovers, the sources said.
When Condit delicately broke things off with Levy with the explanation that she was moving back to California, she was distraught, refusing to take no for an answer and even becoming obsessed with him, the sources said.
Levy called Condit several times on a special line in the 24 hours before she vanished, but he never returned those calls, the sources said.
Condit, 53 and married, has repeatedly said through public statements that he and Levy were only good friends, with his staff denying there was a romantic relationship.
Levy's parents, Susan and Robert Levy of Modesto, Calif., have hired former Washington homicide detectives to scour their daughter's Washington studio apartment for fibers, love letters, notes and any other clues that could help them find out what happened to their daughter, who has not been seen since April 30.
Fox
Washington, D.C. — A flight attendant who said she had a long-term affair with Rep. Gary Condit says the congressman asked her to sign a declaration denying their relationship, and told her she did not need to talk to the FBI following the disappearance of Chandra Levy.
Anne Marie Smith, 39, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News that she refused to sign the draft of a declaration that was submitted by Condit attorneys to her lawyers, and insisted the California Democrat knew the document was a lie.
"Mr. Condit knew it was false and he was asking me to sign it and, I personally could never have signed it," Smith said in an interview on Monday. "I would never have signed it. And he was urging me to sign it, he said you don't want anything, this could be personally embarrassing for both of us."
Smith's lawyers on Monday evening supplied Fox News with a copy of what they said was a draft of the declaration. They said the document contained a note written by Don Thornton, an investigator who works with Condit's West Coast attorney.
Jim Robinson, Smith's attorney, claims to have had a phone conversation with Thornton in which the latter referred to the form as an "affidavit." Robinson says the document is indeed an affidavit, as opposed to a declaration, since it is composed of the specialized vocabulary of the legal profession called legalese.
Lawyers for Condit said on Monday night they did not know of any such document. Thornton spoke with Fox News and also denied any knowledge of the form.
AP
An investigator searches Chandra Levy's Washington apartment.
Condit lawyers have declined to comment on any relationship he may have had with Smith.
Smith also said she told Condit she had spoken to the FBI about the Levy case. "I left him a voicemail and I said, 'You need to call me, it's urgent,'" she said.
She said he called back the next day, and that he did not respond well when she told him what was happening.
"I said, I have been contacted by this agency, and I want you to know and I said, you know, it was just a routine questioning, they said they would keep my name confidential," she told Fox News.
"He was really upset with me, he said, 'Oh, I see how you are, I see what you're doing.' And I said, 'No, you know, I've never been in a situation like this.' ... He said 'You don't have to talk to the media, you don't have to talk to anybody. You don't even have to talk to the FBI.'"
Smith reportedly told the FBI she ended a year-long romantic relationship with Condit when she saw press reports about Levy, the missing Washington intern, a source close to the woman told Fox News.
Smith said she has not spoken to Condit since one or two weeks before the 24-year-old disappeared. Smith also said she knew the California Democrat was married and suspected he might be seeing someone else, but she didn't know for sure.
Smith also said Condit told her he was "lonely in Washington," with his chronically ill wife spending 99 percent of her time in California.
Condit has been the subject of much media and law enforcement attention in the weeks since he "broke off his close friendship" with Levy. He broke off the friendship only two days before she disappeared, the congressman told investigators, according to Fox News police sources.
The congressman provided the new details about his relationship with Levy in a second, hour-long interview with police, but stopped short of saying whether he and the 24-year-old had a romantic relationship, the sources said. Condit did, however, strongly hint the two had been lovers, the sources said.
When Condit delicately broke things off with Levy with the explanation that she was moving back to California, she was distraught, refusing to take no for an answer and even becoming obsessed with him, the sources said.
Levy called Condit several times on a special line in the 24 hours before she vanished, but he never returned those calls, the sources said.
Condit, 53 and married, has repeatedly said through public statements that he and Levy were only good friends, with his staff denying there was a romantic relationship.
Levy's parents, Susan and Robert Levy of Modesto, Calif., have hired former Washington homicide detectives to scour their daughter's Washington studio apartment for fibers, love letters, notes and any other clues that could help them find out what happened to their daughter, who has not been seen since April 30.
Fox
