NEW YORK – The former New Jersey homeland security aide embroiled in a gay sex scandal with Gov. James McGreevey charged on Friday that McGreevey made “repeated sexual advances,” subjected him to “abuse and intimidation” when he finally rebuffed them, and then tried to pay him off to cover up harassment allegations.
During a Friday news conference, attorney Alan Lowy read a statement in which the ex-aide, Golan Cipel, accused McGreevey of trying to “smear” him by suggesting that he was only after money. Cipel, an Israeli, said he felt vindicated by McGreevey’s emotional resignation on Thursday, in which he acknowledged that he was gay.
“While we regret that the governor felt compelled until yesterday to lead a double life, the fact remains that he used his official position to repeatedly victimize my client,” Lowy said. “What the future will hold with regard to filing a lawsuit is something only time will tell.”
Cipel, 35, a poet and former sailor in the Israeli armed forces, met McGreevey in Israel in 2001. When McGreevey took office in 2002, he hired Cipel as a $110,000 homeland security aide. Cipel resigned on Aug. 14, 2002.
Democrat McGreevey, 47 and married twice with two daughters, said the affair had made him vulnerable to “threats of disclosure.” Advisers told reporters that Cipel had demanded $5 million to avert a lawsuit.
Lowy disputed that on Friday. He said McGreevey’s representatives “offered a sum of money to make my client go away.”
The new allegations came as political New Jersey collectively held its breath, waiting to see if Cipel would file a lawsuit detailing the affair, while Republicans pressured McGreevey to resign immediately.
McGreevey plans to turn over power to Democratic state Senate President Richard Codey on Nov. 15. Voters would select the next governor in November 2005. But if McGreevey resigns before Sept. 3, the state will have a special election in November to choose a governor.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
