The US Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney, could be an alibi witness for congressman Mr Gary Condit in the latest twist in the case of the missing intern, Ms Chandra Levy (24). It was revealed yesterday Mr Condit had a meeting with the vice-president at the time Ms Levy apparently disappeared.
The involvement of the Vice-President came as police investigating the disappearance said they still had questions they wanted to ask Mr Condit about Ms Levy. They have indicated they were not happy with the lie detector test he took on his own initiative. They have already interviewed him three times. Leaks from the Condit camp suggest that Mr Condit had a private meeting with Mr Cheney on May 1st, just 30 minutes before Ms Levy logged off from her computer for the last time. A Condit source told ABC News that the meeting lasted 45 minutes.
This would put Mr Condit away from Ms Levy's apartment at the time police believe she went missing.
The leak is the latest from the Condit camp, who have been passing out information that has ranged from suggestions that the Ms Levy was promiscuous to details of the lie detector test that supposedly exonerates Mr Condit from any knowledge of the intern's disappearance.
Mr Cheney's involvement is part of a high-stakes damage limitation exercise by Mr Condit's team after growing pressure for him to resign from his congressional seat. Demonstrations against the conservative Democrat in his home town of Modesto, California, have grown over the past week.
Fresh details of the investigation are being leaked daily. In one, Mr Condit was allegedly seen throwing something into a rubbish bin in a Washington suburb shortly before police searched his apartment. Negotiations between police and Mr Condit's lawyers are under way for Mr Condit to take another lie detector test conducted by the FBI.