Philadelphia Region Local News

(CBS 3) In 2004, Jim McGreevey resigned as New Jersey's governor after admitting to a gay love affair.

The man involved, according to McGreevey, was an aide named Golan Cipel. Now Cipel is telling his side of the story -- in his first television interview -- to our sister station, WCBS-TV in New York and Anchor Jim Rosenfield has the exclusive report.

The second run for governor was the charm for Jim McGreevey.

The ambitious suburban Mayor coasted to victory as New Jersey's 51st governor in 2001.

But less than three years later, a watershed moment in American politics.

"The truth is I am a gay American, I had a consensual affair with another man," said McGreevey.

And it wasn't long before Golan Cipel's name surfaced as the man who brought down the Governor.

Rosenfield: The day of McGreevey's resignation speech, did you watch it on TV, live?
Cipel: Yes.

For the first time since he retreated to his Israeli homeland two years ago, McGreevey's hand-picked aide returned with us to Trenton, the place where his dreams of working in American politics were realized then shattered.

Cipel: I did not expect to hear the love affair spin and I was quite in shock.
Rosenfield: What he said is a lie?
Cipel: Absolutely.
Rosenfield: There was never a love affair, a relationship between the two of you?
Cipel: No.
Rosenfield: It was an attack on several occasions, you're saying?
Cipel: Absolutely.

According to Cipel there were three incidents.

The first, inside then Governor-elect McGreevey's Woodbridge condo. "He turned to me and pushed me," said Cipel.

The 38-year old former Israeli navy officer says he had to fight off McGreevey in the bedroom.

Cipel: Start to struggle with me, tried to kiss me and I remember holding my head -- saying no, stop.

But rather than quit, or go to authorities, Cipel says he stayed silent.

Several weeks later, he says, there was a second incident, again in the Governor's Woodbridge condo.

Cipel alleges McGreevey exposed himself while confined to the living room, recovering from a broken leg.

Cipel: He was moaning and petting the bed and saying, come sit next to me and I say I'm not going to sit next to you.

Cipel says McGreevey's wife and another aide were in the kitchen but we spoke by phone to the former aide who says he recalls no such meeting.

Rosenfield: Forgive me if I'm skeptical, but this is a very small apartment. He's doing this while his wife is right around the corner in the next room?
Cipel: Yes, absolutely. This is how crazy it gets.

Again, Cipel tells no one.

Rosenfield: That's what people might have trouble with. You now have two incidents and you stay and you work there? Why not just leave?
Cipel: I spoke about it with many people and I've read a lot about it, that actually it's a very natural reaction. Because that's what happens to victims of sexual harassment.

Several months later, during a nighttime trip in a van to the Nation's Capitol, Cipel claims there was a third incident.

With three state troopers in the front seat, Cipel says he awoke from a nap in the back of the van, to find the governor grabbing his leg.

Cipel: And I thought to myself, 'this is absurd.' I'm driving in a state van to Washington, D.C., to the capitol nation, the three state troopers in the front, and the Governor of New Jersey grabbing my foot, humping it like a dog.
Cipel: After that incident, I went to the governor and I said to him, 'I'm leaving.' He started to yell, 'you are not leaving anywhere. You are with me until you are deep in the ground. Until the day you die.

Rosenfield: Until you're deep in the ground?
Cipel: Yeah. That's exactly the phrase he used. And I said to myself, 'wow, this is like a movie.'

We checked with New Jersey State Police, and a spokesperson told us he could "neither confirm nor deny" the van incident, since the agency's policy is never to comment on matters about the Governor's security detail.

In his book, The Confession, this is how McGreevey sums up Cipel's account about the van. "A ridiculous lie."

McGreevey also admits in his book, Cipel was eventually forced to resign because of him. After exaggerating Cipel's role as New Jersey's homeland security advisor; this, as rumors swirled around Trenton about their relationship.

Rosenfield: And to those who wonder, maybe he really is gay? He just didn't want to come out of the closet.
Cipel: I don't think you can ever prove if you're gay or not gay to the public and I think it's also wrong. I only answered the questions that I was straight because I was asked in the beginning. I wanted to tell the truth.

Cipel: But even today, I feel good. The minute I spoke up, the minute I woke up and decided to tell my story was the day that I felt completely liberated.

McGreevey's attorney tells us he spoke to the three troopers who denied seeing anything in the van.

Mr. McGreevey declined our repeated requests for an interview, but in a statement said: "I stand behind the truth and accuracy of the entirety of the book. The book is an honest and painful story of the dangers of leading a divided life. My relationship with Mr. Cipel lasted for a number of months. It was entirely consensual and I wish that he only finds peace in his life."

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