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Former aide to gay US Gov. says sexually harassed A day after New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey said he would resign over a homosexual affair, the state's former top Homeland Security official accused his boss on Friday of sexually harassing him and trying to buy his silence. "While employed by one of the most powerful politicians in the country, New Jersey Gov. McGreevey, I was a victim of repeated sexual advances by him," McGreevey's former aide, Golan Cipel, said in a statement issued by his lawyer. Lawyer Allen Lowy read Cipel's statement near his client's Upper West Side apartment in New York City.
He said when he "finally dared to reject Gov.
McGreevey's Lowy said he met with lawyers for the governor at their request before filing a planned harassment lawsuit and that claims his client demanded money to suppress the civil suit, were a "smear campaign" by the governor. "It was Mr. McGreevey's representatives who, without provocation, offered a sum of money to make my client go away," he insisted. SUIT NOT CERTAIN Lowy declined to say if his client would file such a lawsuit. Micah Rasmussen, a spokesman for McGreevey, said: "These are completely and totally false allegations from a person trying to exploit his relationship with the governor. "The matter has been referred to federal authorities for investigation." McGreevey, twice married with two children, told a news conference on Thursday he had had a consensual affair with another man and would resign on Nov. 15 to avoid rumors and "threats of disclosure."McGreevey, who earlier this year said he opposed gay marriage, declared: "My truth is that I am a gay American, and I am blessed to live in the greatest nation with the greatest tradition of civil liberties in the world." "Shamefully, I indulged in an adult consensual affair with another man, which violates the bonds of matrimony. It was wrong; it was foolish, and it was inexcusable. ... I have decided the right course of action is to resign," he said, with his wife by his side, adding his resignation will be effective Nov. 15. Cipel, an Israeli national, worked as a campaign aide for McGreevey and then in early 2002 took a $110,000-a-year job as the state's Homeland Security Adviser. But he stepped down after questions about his credentials and how a foreign national without security clearance could be effective in the job. BETTER AND BETTER JOBS A published poet and former Israeli navy officer, he was kept on at the same salary as an aide to the governor but resigned in August 2002 after McGreevey's office declined to answer media queries about what his duties entailed. The New York Times reported on Friday that a month after leaving state government, McGreevey helped Cipel get a $120,000-a-year public relations job, which he kept for just one month before moving to a lobbying firm earning $150,000. McGreevey, 47, took office in January 2002. His four-year term will be completed by Democrat Richard Codey, the current president of the state senate. In 2-1/2 years as governor, McGreevey worked to reform the state's tax system and to tackle environmental issues. But in recent months, he was dogged by a federal corruption probe. Two weeks ago, prosecutors charged Charles Kushner, a big McGreevey contributor, with meddling with a federal campaign-finance probe by luring a grand jury witness into meeting with a prostitute, videotaping the tryst and sending the images to the man's wife. McGreevey was never accused of any crime in the corruption probe and denied any wrongdoing. |
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