Bush Offers Sympathy to Levy Family

CRAWFORD, Tex. — Breaking a months-long silence on the case, President Bush expressed his sympathy Friday to the family of missing Washington intern Chandra Levy and said he hopes “the Levy [family] prayers are answered.”

“This isn’t about a congressman,” Bush said, referring to Rep. Gary Condit (D-Ceres), who has admitted to a “very close” relationship with the Modesto woman before she vanished in April.

“This is about a family who lost a daughter, and that’s what I’m concerned about,” the president said. “And I hope that if she is alive, she’s returned soon. And I pray she’s alive, that’s what. That’s where my heart is, and that’s where my concerns are on this issue.”

As recently as Thursday, the president declined to comment on the case, saying merely that he “probably” would not watch Condit’s first public comments on TV. “I followed through on that,” Bush said Friday. But under further questioning, he admitted that two aides briefed him about the interview on ABC’s “PrimeTime Thursday.”.

Still, Bush declined to express an opinion about Condit’s behavior.

“I have no idea about the congressman. I’m not paying attention to the congressman. I am paying attention to whether or not this poor girl is . . . found, and that’s what I’m interested in,” he said.