demoRat role model: Former McGreevey Aide Denies Affair
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 17, 2006
Filed at 9:18 p.m. ET
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The former aide that James McGreevey says he had an affair with denies stories in the ex-governor's tell-all book that they had sex, saying he felt sexually harassed on several occasions, according to newspaper reports.
''I didn't have sex with him -- ever,'' Cipel told The Philadelphia Inquirer for Sunday's editions. ''In his book, he talks about love, but I never heard anything from McGreevey that was affectionate. The only thing I experienced from him was sexual harassment.''
McGreevey declared in August 2004 that he is gay, had had an affair with a man and was resigning as governor. The man was later identified as Cipel, a former state homeland security adviser.
At the time, Cipel threatened to sue McGreevey for sexual harassment. A lawsuit was never filed, and the statute of limitations lapsed.
Speaking by phone from Israel, where he works, Cipel told the Inquirer that he needed to counter what he described as lies in McGreevey's book, ''The Confession,'' which is due in bookstores Tuesday. Cipel, 37, has said he is not gay.
McGreevey stood by his account of the relationship as described in the book.
''The book is rigorously, if not painfully, honest,'' McGreevey told The Associated Press on Sunday. ''It was necessary in my recovery to be totally honest, to embrace my mistakes, my failures and the pain I caused, and to take responsibility for my actions. The book is an effort, however imperfect, to describe the dangers of living a divided, inauthentic life.''
In the book, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, McGreevey recounts how he began the affair with Cipel in December 2001 while his wife was in the hospital after childbirth.
Cipel said the evening involved McGreevey taking him out to a bar, then back to his condo for shots of liquor. McGreevey pushed him to drink more and then told him to come upstairs to look at something ''for work,'' Cipel told the Inquirer.
''So McGreevey comes up, turned toward the den very fast, and pushed me toward the bedroom. I froze, and I said, 'What's going on?' He pushed me again on my chest. He jumped on me and we wrestled. He tried to kiss me.''
Cipel said he broke free but was scared because there was a state trooper outside.
''If I hit the governor back, who would they blame? I rushed out. I went home. I couldn't sleep all night. Thoughts in my mind were running. What am I going to do?'' Cipel said.
Allen Lowy, a lawyer who handled Cipel's sexual harassment case, did not return messages left by the AP on Sunday night. A phone number for Cipel in Israel could not be located.
After the resignation, McGreevey, 49, remained largely silent until he spoke with Oprah Winfrey on Sept. 12 about the book; the show is to air Tuesday. He works now as an educational consultant and an anti-poverty advocate, and lives in Plainfield, N.J., with his partner, Mark O'Donnell. |
