Condit Called Before Grand Jury

Rep. Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres), whose reelection bid ended earlier this month with a defeat in the California state primary, is getting no rest from authorities probing the disappearance of former intern Chandra Levy.

Condit, who publicly has said only that he shared a “very close” relationship with Levy, surrendered bank statements, phone records and other materials from his congressional office under subpoena last fall. Now he has been subpoenaed to testify before a Washington grand jury within the next two weeks. News of the subpoena was first reported in the Washington Post.

His appearance will represent the first sworn testimony for the six-term Central Valley lawmaker. Condit has been questioned repeatedly by law enforcement officials since Levy disappeared last spring, but never before under oath.

Some legal analysts expressed surprise that he would be summoned to testify at this late date, as District of Columbia police have said he is not a suspect in the 24-year-old’s disappearance. But one Washington lawyer said that grand jurors may be focusing anew on the truthfulness of earlier statements made by Condit or staff members to police and FBI agents.

“They may be trying to determine if anyone obstructed justice,” said the veteran attorney, who has followed the case closely. “Usually the target of a grand jury is not subpoenaed, but who knows if the usual rules apply to this case.”

Neither Condit nor his lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell, offered comment.

Among other matters, authorities have been looking into claims by United Airlines flight attendant Anne Marie Smith that Condit asked her to lie to investigators about a 10-month affair she says they had--thus raising the question of whether Condit tried to obstruct the investigation. Condit has challenged Smith’s credibility.

FBI agents last summer interviewed former Condit staff members and acquaintances in Washington, in Levy’s hometown of Modesto and in other parts of California--often asking more about Condit than about Levy.

Investigators also have been probing a witness’ account that he saw the congressman toss a watch case into a trash can in Alexandria, Va., hours before police searched his condominium several miles away on July 10. The watch case was recovered and was found to have been a gift to Condit from a woman in San Francisco who was a member of his staff, an official said.

The congressman has refused to detail in public his relationship with Levy, a USC graduate student who disappeared after completing an internship at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons here. Levy’s family has said the two were having an affair, and Condit reportedly has admitted as much to police.

In declining to name Condit as a suspect, authorities repeatedly have said that they have found no evidence of foul play. Police officials, however, publicly have complained that Condit has been less than forthright in some of their meetings with him.

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said recently that while “there have been no new leads,” there is “still a lot of information that’s being sorted through.” Police and FBI agents have questioned thousands of witnesses in Washington and California and searched wide areas of the District of Columbia, he said.

Levy disappeared as she was preparing to return home to receive a master’s degree from USC. She was last seen April 30.