Thread by @realGaryCondit

I struggled on how to present this recent political/MSM history. Many will attack me, but I’m taking #ConnieChung advice to tell the truth. In no way do I minimize sexual assault (including hers) or victims of any kind of assault.

In 2001 Connie Chung assaulted me. (1/59)

Her behavior as a journalist is as relevant today as the assault on her. It’s not about whether one assault is real or worse. It’s about how MSM blindly assaults people & uses victims to advance agendas. It’s about clean hands & what America was talking about before 9/11. (2/59)

It’s about the need to DRAW A LINE on our private lives w/ the press. The poison to our country / community is not just what all this unhinged talk of accusations does to our discourse. It’s the real discussions that are PUSHED OUT of the public square by it. (3/59)

Connie expounds on telling “the truth.” Like Barbara Bush I know Connie is not a truthful person. She is deceptive. She has even written about how she "Gets a Get" & her methods include building false trust. (4/59)

Sexual assault is no doubt worse than assault by MSM. But damage to families etc. is still real. The bible says Sin of Tongue as the vilest. As I told Connie I made mistakes. But she too is a sinner. A vile one. Next tweets are from Actual Malice re my experience w/ Connie (5/59)

“Gary was the summer’s biggest “get.” The nation’s high-profile media personalities called or wrote to Abbe Lowell to make their pitch for Gary’s interview, often providing callous & unsolicited opinions on their competition. The finalists were ABC’s Chung & CBS’s Bradley” (6/59)

“Chung hadn’t been a big name in prime-time media for many years. Gary’s interview was the type of “get” that could bring her back from the dead. Her pitch to Gary in a handwritten note to him was built around a single word—trust.” See letter below (7/59)

“Although Chad and Cadee expressed reservations about Chung given her need for a
career springboard and her record of railroading interviewees (including former First Lady Barbara Bush), the group ultimately decided she would be the better choice." (8/59)

"As soon as word leaked that Gary was going to give an exclusive interview and the Modesto Bee hadn’t landed it, the newspaper formally called for his resignation.” The Bee met w/ me & offered to publish a front-page letter from me if I gave the exclusive to the Bee (9/59)

As soon as I picked Connie, the resignation call arrived. And the reason they claimed I needed to resign was that I had “obstructed” the investigation into Chandra’s disappearance. Something that we (& they know now) isn’t true. The Bee said a lot of things Off Record... (10/59)

So Connie & I proceeded based on her claim of “trust” that she’d give a fair interview. The buildup to that interview was immense. I had tried for months not to talk with the press. The FBI etc. asked me NOT to talk publicly even while pundits DEMANDED I do so. (11/59)

I should have stuck to my guns. But my friends and family were fighting the MSM & I could not let them do that alone. As I watched people (you @nbcsnl) ridicule Kavanaugh for an animated defense of himself I felt sadness for him & his family. An impossible situation (12/59)

Back to Actual Malice: “More than one hundred of Gary’s supporters gathered at the Assyrian Reception Hall in Turlock. Gary, a lifetime politician, did not attend the rally. Adrian Condit [My father & a Baptist preacher] stood on the raised stage at the front of the hall" (13/59)

“Thank you,” Adrian said, then cleared his throat. “I’m here this evening to speak to you on behalf of my son and the Condit family. Gary and Carolyn are doing just fine. I believe the people of this valley know Gary and Carolyn Condit better than the news media.” (14/59)

"The crowd applauded. Adrian looked defiantly at the mass of reporters lined against the back wall." (15/59)

“I want you to know that no amount of news media rhetoric, implications, or accusation—sources known or unknown—will ever divide the Condit family!” The crowd erupted with approval, chanting “WE DECIDE, NOT THE MEDIA!” (16/59)

“The Condit ties are unbreakable!” Adrian shouted, his voice tearing through the air like thunder. He took a step forward and looked gently over the familiar folks in front of him. “Before we go, I’d like to pray for Chandra Levy and her parents Susan and Doctor Bob Levy”(17/59)

The crowd bowed their heads. “Lord, I pray that you put your arms around them and love them and comfort them . . . and may in some miraculous way, you bring that precious daughter of theirs home.” (18/59)

"It took all of her willpower for Jean Condit to walk into the headquarters of the Ceres Courier. She and Adrian had agreed to an interview with the paper’s editor, Jeff Benziger." (19/59)

“Sure, Satan had a role. Gary’s just about destroyed. People are destroying him, not only in reputation, but him,” Jean explained, wiping tears. “I know he would not withhold 1 thing if he thought it would help find that girl. He hurts because she’s gone,” Adrian added (20/59)

“Why won’t he talk to the public?” Benziger pressed. “Why should he have to come before the news media & make any type of confession? He’s confessed to God what he’s done wrong. I have prayed with him several times. In all this stuff, there’s not any sense of forgiveness" (21/59)

"It’s all judgmental,” Adrian said, perplexed by the media’s inability to appreciate the simple lesson that no good comes from compounding sins, and that a man does not save himself by further punishing his wife. (22/59) [THERE IT IS BTW - JUST 1 REASON TO DRAW A LINE]

“That’s all people want to hear?” Jean [my mother] interjected. “We had sex.” (23/59)

“His relationship with Chandra Levy was a great mistake. He’s never said this to nobody about how he’s taking this beating, partly because he doesn’t want to say anything derogatory in any manner toward Chandra Levy, or even toward Dr. and Mrs. Levy,” Adrian continued. (24/59)

The interview was placed on the Courier’s front page under the headline: GARY CONDIT’S PARENTS BELIEVE SATAN HAD A “BIG TIME ROLE” IN SCANDAL. [I knew no matter what my parents said, MSM would ridicule them. In this case, their religion & views on sin, grace & forgiveness](25/59)

Pause. The truth was always right in front of MSM. I spoke w/ Connie before the interview. I learned later her preparation was based on reading false news reports (incl reports already determined false!) She did exactly what she said she would not. I’ll cont. & you judge (26/59)

Interview prep:“Before Connie Chung can get to her 1st question you need to tell her that you’d like to offer a few words. You need to get your message out before she takes control,” Lowell [my attorney Abbe] advised. “You need to apologize for the affairs,” Lynch insisted(27/59)

“What’s he got to apologize for?” Chad [Condit] demanded. “He didn’t commit any crime.” “My private life is nobody’s business,” Gary added. Lynch fell back in his chair, dumbfounded by the disconnect between what he felt must be done & the response from Chad &and Gary. (28/59)

“People know what happened. They need to hear it & hear an apology,” Lynch fired back. “That’s bullshit, Lynch,” Chad yelled. “I know you think that,” Lynch [my CoS] responded. “If he had the affair it was wrong. We all agree on that. So why not tell people you’re sorry?”(29/59)

“Mike,” Gary broke in. “I’m going to do this. That doesn’t mean I’m going to talk about sex or apologize to people I haven’t hurt.”
“You can’t control this. You can’t. If you can’t go out there & apologize for having an affair, then you're better off doing nothing." (30/59)

“You’re the one who said he needs to get out there!” Chad responded.

“I’m not going to give some mea culpa,” Gary added. “If that means we know how this will end, then that’s how it’ll end.” (31/59)

Susan Levy & her lawyer [Billy Martin] would not return Abbe's letters or calls. I met one on one with Susan & Martin weeks before. They took all the issues they demanded publicly off the table! When they went on CNN or w/ WAPO they’d lie or contradict prior statements. (32/59)

If you’ve read Actual Malice you know the forensics on that are appalling for WAPO in particular. But I couldn’t do anything about it. Like Kavanaugh if I pointed out that Susan Levy had contradicted herself, they’d claim I was attacking the victim. I had no recourse. (33/59)

Susan Levy & Billy could go on TV (where there’s no due process) but had no interest in talking w/ me directly. At this point CNN and WAPO knew their stories weren’t adding up. It was all calculated to “corner” me w/ the press. Press (Connie) was willing cudgel to DESTROY (34/59)

They’d been advised that to keep Chandra’s name in the news they needed to keep the media focused on me – the red meat. The night before Connie. And now R and D politicos were piling in to make it political. (35/59)

Billy Martin made a guest appearance on CNN with host Wolf Blitzer to discuss Gary’s upcoming interview with Connie Chung.

BLITZER: What does the Levy family want to hear from Gary Condit Thursday night (36/59)

MARTIN: The only thing the family wants to hear is info that could lead to info on Chandra’s whereabouts. They don’t really want to hear anything about the relationship. They don’t want to know how he felt about Chandra. They don’t want to know how Chandra felt about him. (37/59)

A helicopter churned overhead. Gary and Connie Chung stood at the edge of the lawn in front of a large ranch house, at the point where it bled into an almond orchard. “What kind of trees are those?” Chung asked. (38/59)

“On the trees, they’re ‘all-monds’ and on the ground they’re ‘ah-monds’—because we love the ‘L’ out of them,” Gary explained. After posing for pictures outside, they returned to the ranch house. Gary was led to a chair at the center of the great room. (39/40)

In her left hand, Chung held a yellow pad of paper on which she had written six pages’ worth of questions for the thirty-minute interview. (40/59)

President George Bush’s chief adviser, Karen Hughes, and his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, sat in front of a television inside a home on the president’s family ranch in Crawford, Texas. (41/59)

Like tens of millions of other people worldwide, including twenty-four million Americans, they turned the channel to ABC to watch the most anticipated prime time interview in many years. (42/59)

CONNIE CHUNG: Congressman Condit, do you know what happened to Chandra Levy?
CONDIT: No, I do not.
CHUNG: Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?
CONDIT: No, I didn’t.
(43/59)

CHUNG: Did you say anything or do anything that could have caused her to drop out of sight?
CONDIT: You know, Chandra and I never had a cross word . . .
CHUNG: Did you cause anyone to harm her?
CONDIT: No. (44/59)

CHUNG: Did you kill Chandra Levy?

Gary’s eyes turned gray. You’re talking about a missing woman. That’s a question you ask a man on death row, he thought. In that moment, “Chung became Putin to me,” he later admitted. (45/59)

You can read the whole interview or watch it online. It was painful for both. She kept asking about murder and sex and bringing up headlines that had already been debunked by the FBI, publicly. It shocked me how unprepared she was & uninterested in a serious discussion. (46/59)

The end of the interview. “CHUNG: You don’t think you’re stonewalling?” (47/59)

CONDIT: No, I don’t think I’m stonewalling at all. I think that people expect that you can maintain some of your privacy. I think the Levys expect to maintain some of their daughter’s privacy. And I’m trying to honor that. I’m trying to do that with dignity… (48/59)

“...I, I’m trying to retain some privacy for my family and for their family. And I think your viewers out there will understand that.” 49/59)

CHUNG: I would think that many people would want you to maintain your privacy. However, you have constituents out there, something like 680,000. Do they deserve the truth? (50/59)

CONDIT: They deserve the truth. And the truth is that I have done everything asked of me by the people who are responsible to find Chandra Levy. I have not been part of the media circus if that’s your point. But it’s not the news media’s responsibility to find Chandra (51/59)

CHUNG: But isn’t much of what has happened partly your doing?
CONDIT: In what respect, Connie?
CHUNG: You said yourself, to your constituents, in a letter, that you’ve made mistakes, and you said that to me earlier.
CONDIT: Right . . . (52/59)

CHUNG: But what mistakes are you talking about? Are you talking about moral mistakes? (53/59)

CONDIT: Well, there’s a variety of mistakes. I mean, I’ve made all kinds of mistakes in my life, but I’m not going to go into details on this program about the mistakes that I’ve made in my life . . . I acknowledge them. And I’m sorry for them. (54/59)

CHUNG: Do you think you’re a moral man?
CONDIT: I think I am a moral man. Yes.
CHUNG: Okay. I think we are out of time, Gary. Thank you so much, Congressman Condit.
CONDIT: Thank you. (55/59)

“Gary removed the mic from his coat and looked at the stunned faces lining the edge of the great room. The people in the room felt as though they had just witnessed the torture of both the interviewer and the interviewee.” (56/59)

Every major television news network ran special post-interview programming where pundits derided Gary’s performance. In a post-interview Gallup poll, 62 percent of Americans polled said it was “very likely” or “likely” Gary was directly involved in Chandra’s disappearance (57/59)

A classified memorandum titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US” was delivered to President Bush at his Crawford ranch. The intelligence community had determined that al-Qaeda was in the final stages of planning “something very, very, very big.” (58/59)

Later, Karen Hughes and Condoleezza Rice briefed President Bush on the Condit-Chung interview the prior night. Afterward, the president addressed reporters: “I’m not worried about the gossip or the Washington whispers. (58.5/59)

"This isn’t about a congressman or a network. This is about a family that lost a daughter,” POTUS said. Nobody told the public that the intelligence community’s warning system was “blinking red.” (59/59)

BONUS: Jay Leno summed it up: “It looks like Condit is being abandoned by the Dem Party. Imagine. You are being abandoned by the party who stood behind Kennedys, Gary Hart, Dan Rostenkowski, Jesse Jackson, and Bill Clinton! This is like getting kicked out of Sodom & Gomorrah”