Editorials

MODESTO — The mother of missing federal intern Chandra Levy pressed Rep. Gary Condit on Monday to take a lie detector test. 

Standing at the door to her home, Susan Levy urged Condit “to come ahead and take the polygraph test and to help us find our daughter and bring her home, back to us alive and unhurt. 

“I’m not accusing anybody of anything,” she added, “but I think there is truth out there and someone knows the truth.” 

Chandra Levy, 24, was last seen in Washington, D.C., on April 30. Over the weekend, a source speaking on condition of anonymity said that the 53-year-old Condit, in his third interview with police and the FBI, told investigators for the first time that he had had a romantic relationship with Levy. 

In Washington, Condit attorney Abbe Lowell sought to portray the congressman as cooperative with police and willing to go further. 

Lowell said Condit would allow police access to his apartment if they wished, provide them telephone and cellular phone records and would make his staff available to investigators. 

“The congressman will provide whatever additional information or material he can to police,” Lowell said. 

He said that if the police ask about a lie detector test he would discuss it with Condit, but he expressed doubt about the general usefulness of polygraphs. 

The Levys’ attorney, Billy Martin, said at a Washington press conference that the missing woman’s family had specific questions for Condit. 

Martin said he sent a letter to Condit’s attorney asking for answers to numerous questions about Condit’s relationship with Levy, including when he last saw her, how they met and the nature of the relationship. 

Earlier, in an interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Martin said Condit’s credibility is “suspect” but the family was not accusing him of anything. 

“We have no information, no evidence at all to say that Congressman Condit has done anything wrong,” Martin said. “What’s troubling to the family is that he’s not been helpful.” 

Washington police have said Condit is not a suspect in Levy’s disappearance. 

In his home district, support for Condit waned among some constituents while others continued to back him. 

“He’s let me down,” said Elaine Tindle, 67. “He was really so good and I had confidence in him. He’s lost my confidence.” 

Each morning, Tindle and three other women walk laps at a mall as they discuss the news of the day and whatever else is on their minds. Lately the hot topic has been Condit, and the group thinks the six-term Democrat ought to resign, Tindle said. 

“I feel like he’s got nothing to do with her disappearance, but all this other stuff coming out has put a black mark on him,” she said. 

Some see the story as an attempt by the media to bring down a local hero. 

“I think they ought to find something out before they start persecuting him,” said Jim Pilchard, an 84-year-old from Condit’s hometown of Ceres. “I think the press should keep their noses out of everybody’s damn business.” 

Some voters were bitter when Condit snubbed the local Fourth of July parades where he has been a fixture for years, but many said they were taking a wait-and-see approach before judging him. 

Condit said later that he missed the parades because he was flying back to Washington so his wife, Carolyn, could be interviewed by investigators. 

In this city of 189,000 that still has a small-town feel, voters say they are upset over the thought that Condit may have had an affair and lied about it. 

Still, some stand behind Condit. 

Todd Knutson, a 25-year-old who went to high school with Levy and has voted for Condit, said he supports the man once considered a “shining star for this area.” 

But Knutson also said he is a realist, and as far as Condit’s future is concerned, he said: “I think he’s done.”