N.J. governor quits, reveals gay affair

By Knight Ridder Newspapers and The Associated Press

MICHAEL PEREZ / KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey and his wife, Dina, meet with reporters at the statehouse in Trenton yesterday.

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"I am a gay American," McGreevey said at the Statehouse, his wife of four years, Dina, and his parents, Jack and Veronica, standing with him. "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."

McGreevey, 47, said his resignation would be effective Nov. 15 "to facilitate a responsible transition." He has been in office since Jan. 15, 2002, and he has more than a year left in his term.

Under the state constitution, Senate President Richard Codey, a Democratic legislator for 30 years, will become acting governor while continuing to serve in the Senate. If McGreevey were to resign now, a special election would have to be held in September.

Several sources close to McGreevey identified Golan Cipel as the ex-lover who was expected to file a lawsuit against McGreevey in Mercer County Civil Court in Trenton, N.J.

Two McGreevey advisers said Cipel was willing to drop his suit if the governor gave him hush money.

"This is the allegation: Several weeks ago Golan Cipel demanded millions of dollars under threat of filing a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment," said Hank Sheinkopf, one McGreevey adviser.

Out of the closet Other political figures who have publicly declared their sexual orientation: Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., who announced he is gay in a public statement in 1996. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who admitted he is gay in an interview with The Boston Globe in 1987. Former Rep. Robert Bauman, D-Md., who was defeated after eight years in Congress in 1980 after acknowledging he had "homosexual tendencies." Former Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass., who acknowledged he was gay after revelations in 1983 that he had had a homosexual relationship with a congressional page. The Associated Press

"The governor's lawyers then referred the matter to appropriate law-enforcement officials and that's where it is right now," he said.

One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a lawyer for Cipel "indicated that should the money be paid, Cipel would disappear until after the 2005 election."

Cipel could not be reached for comment.

The governor met Cipel, an Israeli poet, in Israel in 2000 and asked him to come back to the United States. In January 2002, McGreevey gave Cipel the $110,000-a-year job of special counsel on homeland security — despite the fact that Cipel had no security experience.

McGreevey drew fire when it was revealed that Cipel was not required to undergo a background check like other high-ranking officials.

But the federal government refused to give Cipel a security clearance to review sensitive material because he was not a U.S. citizen. Cipel resigned in March of that year, but McGreevey retained him at about the same salary as a "policy counselor." Administration officials never explained exactly what he did.

Cipel left the administration that summer and, with McGreevey's help, took a job with a lobbying firm. He lost that job and a subsequent one in public relations.

The governor's decision to resign came at a time when he was being tarnished by scandals surrounding investigations of former staffers and fund-raisers.

While other prominent politicians have announced they are gay and others have disclosed adulterous relationships, none in memory has delivered such a staggering collection of revelations all at once.

"My heart goes out to Jim McGreevey and his family during this difficult personal time," Codey said. "Jim McGreevey is a good person and a good friend, and today's events sadden me."

For much of McGreevey's public life as a mayor, legislator and governor, he has been dogged by rumors that he was gay.

A Roman Catholic, McGreevey had a daughter with his first wife, Kari, who lives in British Columbia with the child. He has another daughter with his current wife. McGreevey spokesman Micah Rasmussen declined to answer questions about the future of McGreevey's marriage.

As a candidate and governor, the former altar boy proudly discussed his 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.

He said yesterday he had wrestled with his sexuality for years.

"Shamefully, I engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony," McGreevey said. "It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable."

McGreevey's first mother-in-law said the family knew for some time that McGreevey was gay — and praised him for coming clean about it.

"We've been talking, getting ready for this," said Agnes Schutz in New Westminster, B.C. "He was very brave to do it."

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.

In the New Jersey capital, there were different reactions.

"In a sense, this administration was blighted from the very beginning," said Ross Baker, a political-science professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. "It's really a train wreck."

Comment from Agnes Schutz and Hank Sheinkopf is from the New York Daily News.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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