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The Other Side: Cipel Provides Intimate Details

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The Other Side: Cipel Provides Intimate Details

Cites Graphic Examples Of Alleged McGreevey Harassment

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NEW YORK (CBS) ― 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, there was that watershed moment in American politics when McGreevey revealed to the nation that despite being married, he was a gay American and that he had had a consensual affair with another man.

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

For the first time since he retreated to his Israeli homeland two years ago, McGreevey's hand-picked aide returned with CBS 2 to Trenton, the place where his dreams of working in American politics were realized, but then shattered.

Below is the transcript for Part II of Jim Rosenfield's World TV Exclusive interview with Cipel:

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

Cipel: Yes. 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.

Rosenfield voiceover: According to Cipel there were three incidents. The first, inside then Governor-elect McGreevey's Woodbridge condo. The 38-year-old former Israeli navy officer said he had to fight off McGreevey in the bedroom.

Cipel: There's a den, so I know that he works in there. He turned to me and pushed me, started to struggle with me, tried to kiss me. And I remember holding my head, saying "no, stop."

Rosenfield voiceover: But rather than quit, or go to authorities, Cipel said he stayed silent.

Several weeks later, he said 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 patting the bed and saying, "Come sit next to me." And I say, "I'm not going to sit next to you."

Rosenfield voiceover: Cipel said McGreevey's wife and another aide were in the kitchen. But CBS 2 spoke by phone to the other former aide who said he recalled no such meeting.

Rosenfield: Forgive me if I'm skeptical, but this is a very small apartment, right? 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.

Rosenfield voiceover: Again, Cipel tells no one.

Rosenfield: That's what people might have trouble with. You now have two incidents, and you stay and work there? Why not just leave?

Cipel: I spoke about it with many people and I've read a lot about it, and that actually it's a very natural reaction. Because that's what happens to victims of sexual harassment.

Rosenfield voiceover: Several months later, during a nighttime trip in a van to Washington D.C., Cipel claims there was a third incident.

With three state troopers in the front seat, Cipel said 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 capital [of the] nation, the three state troopers in the front, and the governor of New Jersey is grabbing my foot, humping it like a dog.

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."

Rosenfield voiceover: We checked with the New Jersey State Police, and a spokesperson told CBS 2 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," McGreevey summed up Cipel's account about the van as, "... 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.

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.

Rosenfield voiceover: McGreevey's attorney told CBS 2 he spoke to the three troopers who denied seeing anything in the van.

McGreevey declined our repeated requests for an interview, but in a statement to CBS 2, 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.

If you want to hear more of Jim McGreevey's or Golan Cipel's stories, go to our Web site at wcbstv.com and you'll find links to Cipel's personal Web site and McGreevey's publisher.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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