Cipel says
McGreevey made sexual advances

New Jersey governor James E. McGreevey began suffering fallout Friday from his bombshell resignation announcement as his former homeland security adviser, Golan Cipel, accused the governor of sexual harassment and Republicans leaders called on him to leave office immediately. McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday in a dramatic, nationally televised news conference in which he revealed he had had an affair with another man. He did not reveal the man's name. But two sources close to McGreevey, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said Cipel was the unnamed man he had an affair with. One of the sources, a high-ranking member of the McGreevey administration, said Cipel had threatened McGreevey with a sexual harassment lawsuit unless he was paid millions of dollars. McGreevey named Cipel as New Jersey's $110,000-a-year director of homeland security in 2002. But Cipel was transferred to a different position later that year after a storm of opposition from lawmakers who questioned his qualifications, and he later left state government. On Friday, Cipel attorney Allen M. Lowy said Cipel was offered money by representatives of McGreevey after the governor was informed of a possible lawsuit. "It was Mr. McGreevey's representatives who, without provocation, offered a sum of money to make my client go away," Lowy said. He said "only time will tell" whether a lawsuit is filed. No lawsuit was filed, according to court officials in Mercer and Middlesex county. Lowy did not mention his client's sexuality. McGreevey did not immediately respond to Cipel's allegations. Calls to his statehouse office were not returned. In his first public comments about McGreevey, Cipel said in the statement that abuse and intimidation by McGreevey representatives cowed him into keeping quiet until now: "When I finally dared to reject Governor McGreevey's advances, the retaliatory actions taken by him and members of his administration were nothing short of abuse and intimidation. After a long period of pain and introspection, I realized that in order to live my life, to move forward with my life, I needed to put this behind me. But the only way to do this was to have Governor McGreevey take responsibility publicly for his horrible actions, which he did by resigning from public office." The developments occurred as Republican leaders called on McGreevey to leave office immediately, saying that news of the affair is likely to be first of many damaging disclosures. "It is my suspicion that there will be more awkward stories in the days and weeks to come--stories that will make it very difficult for him to carry out the duties of his office," said state Republican chairman Joe Kyrillos. Had McGreevey stepped down immediately, a special election would have been held to find a successor to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2006. McGreevey's decision to leave office in November allows Democratic senate president Richard J. Codey to finish the term. Democrats said GOP leaders are unfairly trying to capitalize on what is McGreevey's personal decision. "This is the time for the people's business, not for partisan politics," Codey said. Republican lawyers said they are considering legal options that would force McGreevey to resign earlier, but they added that pursuing impeachment is not one of them.