Gary Condit
Encyclopedia
Gary Adrian Condit is a former American
politician
, a Democrat
who served in the House of Representatives
from 1989 to 2003. Condit represented California's 18th congressional district
which includes much of the northern San Joaquin Valley
(when he was first elected, this district was the 15th District
; it became the 18th district after redistricting following the 1990 census
).
Condit gained significant national attention for an extramarital affair with intern Chandra Levy
, which was exposed after Levy's disappearance in May 2001.
of Whittier, Gerald R. Eaves
of Rialto, Rusty Areias of Los Banos, and Steve Peace of Chula Vista, California. The group tried and failed to unseat Willie Brown
, who was serving as Speaker of the Assembly of the California State Assembly
at the time, by making a deal with assembly Republicans. Steve Peace co-wrote and produced the 1988
film Return of the Killer Tomatoes
; Condit appeared as unbilled, unspeaking pizzeria patron during a fight sequence wearing a trucker cap who smashes a bottle on the head of a cowboy.
Condit was later elected to Congress in a 1989 special election
, after House Democratic Whip Tony Coelho
resigned. His most important committee assignment was as a senior member on the House Intelligence Committee in the months and years prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks
on New York City
and Washington, D.C.
According to Salon, Condit voted against President Bill Clinton
most frequently of all Congressional Democrats. In 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky
scandal, Condit publicly demanded that Clinton "come clean" on his relationship with the young woman; a video of this demand was aired almost daily during Condit's own sex scandal.
, a young woman working as a Washington, D.C.
intern
originally from Condit's district. Police questioned him twice, and Condit denied having an affair with her; however, after Levy's aunt went public with conversations she has had with her missing niece about the adulterous liaison, police questioned him a third time, and Condit confessed to the relationship. When the affair began, Condit was 53 and Levy was 23.
While Condit was not named as an official suspect in the disappearance, Levy's family suspected that Condit was withholding important information about the intern's disappearance. Public interest was high, and Condit's reputation suffered from the contrast between his "pro-family" politics and adultery with a woman two years younger than his daughter, and his attempts to mislead the police regarding the nature of his relationship with her. In July, two months after Levy vanished, Condit agreed to let investigators search his apartment, but hours before the search, police said he was spotted throwing out a gift box he had received from another woman in a dumpster in one of Washington's Virginia suburbs. Suspicion deepened when Condit tried to avoid answering direct questions during a televised interview with news anchor Connie Chung
on August 23. This followed news reports that Condit had an affair with flight attendant Anne Marie Smith.
Condit mostly disappeared from the news after the September 11, 2001 attacks
. Condit kept his seat on the Intelligence Committee, retained his security clearance, and was one of a small number of members of Congress who were cleared to see the most sensitive information on the 9/11 attacks. On December 7, 2001, he announced he would run for re-election. He lost the primary election in March 2002 to his former aide, then-Assemblyman
Dennis Cardoza
, and left Congress at the end of his term in January 2003. It was the first election Condit ever lost. Condit's most notable vote in his last months in office was the House of Representatives
resolution to expel Congressman James Traficant
after his conviction on corruption charges. In the 420-1 vote on July 24, 2002, Gary Condit was the sole "nay".
Condit is ridiculed in the controversial cartoon South Park
in the final episode of season 5 titled "Butters' Very Own Episode
".
an ice cream store franchise with a lack of success. He was a civil defendant for costs due to the franchise failures and is defending a civil suit for fees and
costs.
Levy's remains did not turn up during the extensive search that followed her disappearance, but were discovered by accident on May 22, 2002, by a man hunting for turtles with his dog in a secluded area of Rock Creek Park
in Washington, D.C. That month, a medical examiner
officially declared that Levy's death was the result of homicide
. Condit initiated a lawsuit against Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne
in a New York federal court in late 2002 for $11 million, claiming that statements made by Dunne about Condit libeled him. The comments indicated that Condit ordered the death of Levy in 2001. Condit's attorney said the defamation lawsuit was based on comments Dunne repeated on national radio and television programs in December 2001 where he suggested Condit frequented Middle Eastern embassies for sexual activity with prostitutes, and during those times, he made it clear that he wanted someone to get rid of Levy. Condit's attorney, L. Lin Wood, said that Dunne's comments "conveyed that Gary Condit was involved in her kidnapping and in her murder, that friends of Gary Condit had her kidnapped, put in an airplane and dropped in the Atlantic Ocean." Dunne paid an undisclosed amount to settle that lawsuit in March 2005. Dunne said he had been "completely hoodwinked" by an unreliable informant. Subsequently Condit sued Dunne again, charging him with "revivifying" the slander in an appearance on Larry King Live
in November 2005. In July 2008 a federal judge dismissed the second lawsuit filed against Dunne.
In July 2006, Condit sued the Sonoran News
, a free weekly circular, for defamation of character, after the publication wrote "that Condit was the 'main focus in the Chandra Levy case in 2001, after lying to investigators about his affair with Levy.'" The case was dismissed in July 2007 when the judge ruled that Condit had not proved the statement was false, or that the paper had published it with actual malice
.
In March 2009, police issued a warrant for the arrest of Ingmar Guandique, an illegal immigrant who had already been convicted and imprisoned for two other attacks on women in Rock Creek Park
. He was subsequently indicted for Levy's murder. On November 22, 2010, Guandique was found guilty of first-degree murder, and was sentenced in February 2011 to 60 years in prison. Condit's lawyer Bert Fields said, "It's a complete vindication but that comes a little late. Who gives him his career back?"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
who served in the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from 1989 to 2003. Condit represented California's 18th congressional district
California's 18th congressional district
California's 18th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of California. The district is located in the northern San Joaquin Valley and includes the cities of Modesto, Stockton, Ceres, Atwater, Merced and Los Banos...
which includes much of the northern San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
(when he was first elected, this district was the 15th District
California's 15th congressional district
California's 15th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that covers part of Santa Clara County west of San Jose and includes the cities of Los Gatos and Cupertino in Silicon Valley...
; it became the 18th district after redistricting following the 1990 census
United States Census, 1990
The Twenty-first United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9.8 percent over the 226,545,805 persons enumerated during the 1980 Census....
).
Condit gained significant national attention for an extramarital affair with intern Chandra Levy
Chandra Levy
Chandra Ann Levy was an American intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in May 2001. She was presumed murdered after her skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park in May 2002...
, which was exposed after Levy's disappearance in May 2001.
Political career
In 1988, Democratic Assemblyman Condit was a member of the "Gang of Five," consisting of Condit, Charles M. CalderonCharles M. Calderon
Charles M. Calderon began his second stint in the California State Assembly in 2006. He represents the 58th District, which includes the cities of Montebello, Pico Rivera, Hacienda Heights Rowland Heights, South San Gabriel, South San Jose Hills, Valinda and portions of City of Industry, Downey,...
of Whittier, Gerald R. Eaves
Gerald R. Eaves
Gerald R. Eaves is a former California State Assemblyman who served from 1984 until 1992. He served on the Rialto City Council from 1977 until 1980 and as Mayor of Rialto from 1980 until 1984. After leaving the Assembly, he served on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors from 1992 until...
of Rialto, Rusty Areias of Los Banos, and Steve Peace of Chula Vista, California. The group tried and failed to unseat Willie Brown
Willie Brown (politician)
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
, who was serving as Speaker of the Assembly of the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
at the time, by making a deal with assembly Republicans. Steve Peace co-wrote and produced the 1988
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
film Return of the Killer Tomatoes
Return of the Killer Tomatoes
Return of the Killer Tomatoes! was the first sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.-Synopsis:Set twenty five years after the events of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes , the basic plotline is that after the events of the first film...
; Condit appeared as unbilled, unspeaking pizzeria patron during a fight sequence wearing a trucker cap who smashes a bottle on the head of a cowboy.
Condit was later elected to Congress in a 1989 special election
Elections in California
Elections in California are held to fill various state and federal seats. In California, regular elections are held every even year , however the seats being decided each year varies, as the terms of office for certain seats varies. Special elections are also held to fill certain seats at other...
, after House Democratic Whip Tony Coelho
Tony Coelho
Anthony "Tony" Coelho is a former United States congressman from California, and primary sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act...
resigned. His most important committee assignment was as a senior member on the House Intelligence Committee in the months and years prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
According to Salon, Condit voted against President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
most frequently of all Congressional Democrats. In 1998, during the Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
scandal, Condit publicly demanded that Clinton "come clean" on his relationship with the young woman; a video of this demand was aired almost daily during Condit's own sex scandal.
Levy scandal
In 2001, Condit became the subject of international news coverage after the May 1 disappearance of Chandra LevyChandra Levy
Chandra Ann Levy was an American intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in May 2001. She was presumed murdered after her skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park in May 2002...
, a young woman working as a Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
intern
Intern
Internship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
originally from Condit's district. Police questioned him twice, and Condit denied having an affair with her; however, after Levy's aunt went public with conversations she has had with her missing niece about the adulterous liaison, police questioned him a third time, and Condit confessed to the relationship. When the affair began, Condit was 53 and Levy was 23.
While Condit was not named as an official suspect in the disappearance, Levy's family suspected that Condit was withholding important information about the intern's disappearance. Public interest was high, and Condit's reputation suffered from the contrast between his "pro-family" politics and adultery with a woman two years younger than his daughter, and his attempts to mislead the police regarding the nature of his relationship with her. In July, two months after Levy vanished, Condit agreed to let investigators search his apartment, but hours before the search, police said he was spotted throwing out a gift box he had received from another woman in a dumpster in one of Washington's Virginia suburbs. Suspicion deepened when Condit tried to avoid answering direct questions during a televised interview with news anchor Connie Chung
Connie Chung
Connie Chung, full name: Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich is an American journalist who has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S...
on August 23. This followed news reports that Condit had an affair with flight attendant Anne Marie Smith.
Condit mostly disappeared from the news after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. Condit kept his seat on the Intelligence Committee, retained his security clearance, and was one of a small number of members of Congress who were cleared to see the most sensitive information on the 9/11 attacks. On December 7, 2001, he announced he would run for re-election. He lost the primary election in March 2002 to his former aide, then-Assemblyman
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
Dennis Cardoza
Dennis Cardoza
Dennis A. Cardoza is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. The district takes in a large swath of the Central Valley, from Stockton to Fresno. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
, and left Congress at the end of his term in January 2003. It was the first election Condit ever lost. Condit's most notable vote in his last months in office was the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
resolution to expel Congressman James Traficant
James Traficant
James Anthony Traficant, Jr. is a former Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio . He represented the 17th Congressional District, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley...
after his conviction on corruption charges. In the 420-1 vote on July 24, 2002, Gary Condit was the sole "nay".
Condit is ridiculed in the controversial cartoon South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
in the final episode of season 5 titled "Butters' Very Own Episode
Butters' Very Own Episode
"Butters' Very Own Episode" is the fourteenth and final episode of the fifth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 79th episode of the series overall. "Butters' Very Own Episode" originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central on December 12, 2001...
".
Post-politics
After his departure from office, Condit was residing in Arizona and operatingan ice cream store franchise with a lack of success. He was a civil defendant for costs due to the franchise failures and is defending a civil suit for fees and
costs.
Levy's remains did not turn up during the extensive search that followed her disappearance, but were discovered by accident on May 22, 2002, by a man hunting for turtles with his dog in a secluded area of Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban natural area with public park facilities that bisects Washington, D.C. The park is administered by the National Park Service.-Rock Creek Park:The main section of the park contains , or , along the Rock Creek Valley...
in Washington, D.C. That month, a medical examiner
Medical examiner
A medical examiner is a medically qualified government officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests....
officially declared that Levy's death was the result of homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
. Condit initiated a lawsuit against Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne
Dominick Dunne
Dominick John Dunne was an American writer and investigative journalist, whose subjects frequently hinged on the ways in which high society interacts with the judicial system...
in a New York federal court in late 2002 for $11 million, claiming that statements made by Dunne about Condit libeled him. The comments indicated that Condit ordered the death of Levy in 2001. Condit's attorney said the defamation lawsuit was based on comments Dunne repeated on national radio and television programs in December 2001 where he suggested Condit frequented Middle Eastern embassies for sexual activity with prostitutes, and during those times, he made it clear that he wanted someone to get rid of Levy. Condit's attorney, L. Lin Wood, said that Dunne's comments "conveyed that Gary Condit was involved in her kidnapping and in her murder, that friends of Gary Condit had her kidnapped, put in an airplane and dropped in the Atlantic Ocean." Dunne paid an undisclosed amount to settle that lawsuit in March 2005. Dunne said he had been "completely hoodwinked" by an unreliable informant. Subsequently Condit sued Dunne again, charging him with "revivifying" the slander in an appearance on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
in November 2005. In July 2008 a federal judge dismissed the second lawsuit filed against Dunne.
In July 2006, Condit sued the Sonoran News
Sonoran News
Sonoran News is a free weekly newspaper in Cave Creek, Arizona, USA. With a circulation of over 37,000, it is the most widely read weekly in Maricopa County. It is sold in Cave Creek, Carefree, Scottsdale, and Phoenix. It is considered a right-wing newspaper....
, a free weekly circular, for defamation of character, after the publication wrote "that Condit was the 'main focus in the Chandra Levy case in 2001, after lying to investigators about his affair with Levy.'" The case was dismissed in July 2007 when the judge ruled that Condit had not proved the statement was false, or that the paper had published it with actual malice
Actual malice
Actual malice in United States law is a condition required to establish libel against public officials or public figures and is defined as "knowledge that the information was false" or that it was published "with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Reckless disregard does not...
.
In March 2009, police issued a warrant for the arrest of Ingmar Guandique, an illegal immigrant who had already been convicted and imprisoned for two other attacks on women in Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban natural area with public park facilities that bisects Washington, D.C. The park is administered by the National Park Service.-Rock Creek Park:The main section of the park contains , or , along the Rock Creek Valley...
. He was subsequently indicted for Levy's murder. On November 22, 2010, Guandique was found guilty of first-degree murder, and was sentenced in February 2011 to 60 years in prison. Condit's lawyer Bert Fields said, "It's a complete vindication but that comes a little late. Who gives him his career back?"
See also
- List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
- List of state and local political sex scandals in the United States
External links
- Condit's Profile on CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...