The Other Man

The man who drove New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey out of the closet and out of office was quietly named to a $110,000-a-year state post shortly after McGreevey took office.

McGreevey aides say it was Golan Cipel's demand for "millions of dollars" that prompted the governor to go public. The aides said Cipel, 35, an Israeli, had threatened to file a sexual harassment suit against the governor unless the money was forthcoming.

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The Newark Star Ledger reported that McGreevey met Cipel on a trip to Israel four years ago, when the 47-year-old politician was the mayor of Woodbridge, N.J.

Six months later, McGreevey brought Cipel, a former Israeli naval officer, to New Jersey. McGreevey campaign staffers found Cipel an apartment close to McGreevey's home in Woodbridge. Subsequently, Cipel got a $30,000-a-year post as the Jewish outreach director of the state Democratic Party, the Star Ledger said.

Cipel began to come under public scrutiny after the governor named him to the newly created post of Homeland Security adviser shortly after McGreevey took office. There was no background check on Cipel or any public announcement that he was holding the new $110,000-a-year post.

Cipel lasted eight month in state government. Since he was an Israeli citizen, Cipel was barred access to the kind of classified information he would have needed to do the job.

Republicans in the New Jersey legislature, meanwhile, began pressing McGreevey to let them question Cipel. As a result, Cipel resigned from the homeland post but remained on the state payroll at the same salary.

Cipel left state government in 2002. The Star Ledger said McGreevey used his influence to help land his lover two well-paid public relations jobs.

Apparently, it wasn't enough. McGreevey aides said Cipel had threatened to file a lawsuit against the governor unless he came up with money. Cipel has yet to comment on the matter.

According to a law enforcement official quoted by the New York Times, McGreevey's office contacted the FBI Thursday and lodged a complaint alleging that Cipel asked for $5 million to drop the lawsuit - a demand the governor's aides viewed as extortion.

On the same day, McGreevey announced that he was gay and was leaving office at a news conference with his wife by his side. He described decades of sexual confusion that dogged him through two marriages and ultimately led him to an act he called "wrong, foolish and inexcusable."

"Given the circumstances surrounding the affair and its likely impact upon my family and my ability to govern, I have decided the right course of action is to resign," he said, without elaborating on what the circumstances were.

McGreevey refused to answer questions. He said "it makes little difference that as governor I am gay," but added that staying in office and keeping the affair and his sexual orientation secret will leave the governor's office "vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure."

Across New Jersey, people listened to their radios or gathered around TV sets to listen to McGreevey's live news conference, and many were left in shock.

"It's a shame," said Jim Nerney, 48, of Middletown. "He brought a lot of passion to the governor's office, but the fact is that it's not accepted in today's society and he's paying the consequences."

"His sexual orientation doesn't matter to me. I feel he's done a good job, holding the line on taxes," said Donald Bowman, 52, of Kearny, a school district worker in Newark.

Gay rights groups expressed support and compassion for McGreevey, but their reactions were tinged with sorrow because McGreevey announced his resignation just as he became the nation's first openly gay governor.

"It is a very sad to thing to watch. It is kind of stunning, sad to me that in 2004 people are still having to struggle because of homophobia in society to come to terms with who they are," said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal.

McGreevey rose from mayor of suburban Woodbridge to state chief executive by his tenacious pursuit of party politics, winning the Statehouse in November 2001 by beating Republican Bret Schundler by 15 percentage points.

Despite inheriting a $5 billion budget deficit, he steadfastly refused to boost income taxes for most New Jerseyans. He instead raised taxes on millionaires, casinos and cigarettes and provided millions of dollars worth of property tax rebates that have been showing up in residents' mailboxes in recent weeks.

A former altar boy, he proudly discussed his Roman Catholic faith but publicly disagreed with church leaders over his support for abortion rights and same-sex partnerships. He pushed for the state's domestic-partnership law, which went into effect this year.

Scandal marred McGreevey's tenure following questions over a series of questionable appointments, including the naming of Cipel to the newly created post of homeland security adviser without any background check or official announcement.

McGreevey also came under fire in 2002 for hiring a state police superintendent who had a criminal record. Last year, two former aides were targeted in a federal probe investigating whether they used their political ties to secure business for their billboard company.

This year, a Democratic fund-raiser and former high school classmate of McGreevey's was charged with trying to extort campaign donations from a farmer in exchange for help in selling his land.

Last month, the governor's commerce secretary quit amid reports he funneled money to businesses he owned with family members, and McGreevey's top campaign donor was charged with conspiracy, obstructing a federal investigation and promoting prostitution.