Former New Jersey
governor Jim McGreevey said he, his wife, and a male
aide engaged in sexual threesomes, contradicting a denial
issued hours earlier by his estranged spouse.
In an e-mail to
the Associated Press, McGreevey, who came out as gay
in 2004 as he resigned his office, said Monday that
published reports by former campaign aide Teddy
Pedersen are true.
In interviews
posted online Sunday night by The Star-Ledger
of Newark, N.J., and the New York Post,
Pedersen said he had consensual sex with the couple
several times over a period of around two years before
McGreevey became governor. He said he had contact only
with Dina Matos McGreevey during the trysts and was
not sure whether Jim McGreevey was gay.
In his statement,
Jim McGreevey said he and his estranged wife need to
move forward for the sake of their 6-year-old daughter.
''This happened,
this happened in the past, and now we need to move on
with our lives,'' McGreevey, 50, said without being
specific.
His e-mail to the
Associated Press came shortly after one from Matos
McGreevey. She said Pedersen's claims of consensual
three-way sex ''are completely false and were prompted
by Jim McGreevey.''
''Jim has had a
close relationship with Pedersen since his days as mayor
of Woodbridge, and arranged jobs for Pedersen from that time
through his years as governor and beyond,'' said Matos
McGreevey, 41. ''They have continued their close
relationship since Jim left office. This was obviously
payback time for Pedersen.''
The McGreeveys
are in the midst of an acrimonious divorce. She accuses
him of hiding his homosexuality before and during their
marriage and has sued for damages. He has said she
should have known he was gay.
Pedersen has
given a sworn deposition about the sexual liaisons and
expects to be called as a witness in the divorce trial.
Pedersen, 29,
told the newspapers the threesomes went on for about two
years during the McGreeveys' courtship and into their
marriage. He said the trysts ended when McGreevey was
elected governor in 2001.
Calls placed by
the AP on Monday to two published listings for Pedersen
rang unanswered.
Pedersen said he
came forward because he was angry that Matos McGreevey
was offering television commentary on the resignation of New
York governor Eliot Spitzer, who stepped down last
week amid a call-girl scandal. During her commentary,
Matos McGreevey said she was blindsided when her
husband announced his homosexuality.
McGreevey
resigned in 2004 after acknowledging an affair with a male
staffer who he said was trying to blackmail him. The
ex-staffer said he was sexually harassed by the
Democratic governor.
The McGreeveys
separated shortly after McGreevey's nationally televised
speech in which he declared himself ''a gay American.''
(Angela Delli Santi, AP)
