Intern Chandra Levy was found dead in a D.C. park in 2002.
Courtney Morse, 36, tells The Washington Post she was a 20-year-old college student when Congressman John Conyers propositioned her.
Morse tells Kimberly Kindy of the Washington Post she quit her internship after Conyers drove her home from work one night, wrapped his hand around hers as it rested in her lap and told her he was interested in a sexual relationship. When she rejected his advances, Morse said he brought up the then-developing investigation into the disappearance of former federal intern Chandra Levy.
“He said he had insider information on the case. I don’t know if he meant it to be threatening, but I took it that way,” Morse said in an interview. “I got out of the car and ran.”
Levy, a 24-year-old intern in Washington with the Bureau of Prisons, was having an affair with then-Congressman Gary Condit when she disappeared in 2001. Her skeletal remains were found a year later in Rock Creek Park in northwest Washington. Initially, Condit was considered a person of interest. He was eventually cleared and a Central American man was convicted in the murder. However, the charges were later dismissed after it was discovered that a key witness had lied. Condit lost in his bid for re-election.
Conyers retired Tuesday, effectively immediately.
The Detroit News reports:
His attorney, Arnold Reed, on Thursday pushed back against Morse’s story, telling The Detroit News the new accusation is part of the "ripple effect" from when women first came forward.
"The congressman said that didn’t happen. She was a short-term employee there, and things didn’t work out for her," Reed said of Morse.
"I asked him, did you remember discussing Chandra Levy with her, and he said, 'Absolutely not.' At some point, you have to ask yourself and think for a minute, what this person is saying, does this make sense? It does not."
