WASHINGTON - Former California Congressman Gary Condit on Monday repeatedly refused to say whether he had an "intimate" relationship with Chandra Levy but vigorously insisted he had nothing to do with her murder.
"I didn't commit any crime, and I didn't do any harm," Condit said.
In an extended, dramatic courtroom confrontation, Condit acknowledged that he used to see Levy or talk with her "a few times a week." He added, under pointed questioning, that "she came by the apartment a few times."
Despite a sharply worded cross-examination, though, he didn't further describe Levy as anything more than a friend.
"You had an intimate relationship with Ms. Levy, right?" defense attorney Maria Hawilo asked.
"I'm not going to respond to those types of questions, based on my privacy and Chandra's privacy," Condit said.
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Hawilo tried asking similar questions multiple times during her hourlong cross-examination. Each time, Condit cited privacy concerns in staying mum, and D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher didn't compel him to answer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines previously told jurors emphatically that Condit "had an affair" with Levy, though she also added he was still likely to not talk about it.
Condit appeared on the fifth day of testimony during the trial of the man accused of killing Levy. Prosecutors say Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique killed Levy on May 1, 2001, during an attempted sexual assault in Washington's Rock Creek Park.
Condit was on the stand for about two hours Monday. He frequently challenged Hawilo's phrasing, telling her at one point, "I don't know what you mean by 'relationship,' " and at another point saying he didn't know what she meant in saying he knew Levy "pretty well."
