I slept with a couple interns

I worked in DC from February, 2001 until April, 2002. I turned 34 during that period and had relationships with two interns, 20 and 25. The young people that come to DC are drawn by the power. And there's a sexually charged atmosphere.

Neither of the interns worked for me or my organization. But they both worked in the same building for our sister organization.

During the relationship with the 20 y/o undergrad we kept it reasonably quiet. The only people "in the know" were a couple of the other interns.

During the relationship with the 25 y/o grad student intern, I didn't want to keep it secret. I didn't feel it was fair to me or her. And I was pissed enough with my boss I was close to quitting anyway. And, unlike the 20 y/o, she seemed like a reasonable person to date. The 20 y/o... it was pretty much just about the sex and nobody would have believed it if I claimed otherwise.

But it's not like Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Gary Condit and I were the only ones playing the game. Female interns get treated differently, especially on the Hill. And Monica Lewinsky and Chandra Levy weren't the only interns interested in seeing how far it could and would go.

As one Washington Post writer pointed-out, the rules for tut-tutting the men for sleeping with younger women seemed to be optimized around older women.