New Jersey stunned by gay sex tales

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Governor James McGreevey is gay, but reputed lover Golan Cipel denies his homosexuality; the governor's biggest backer is guilty of hiring a hooker, and another man says he's had sex with Cipel.

Blackmail, prostitution, corruption, people being shipped off for psychiatric evaluations, even by New Jersey standards, it's been a weird week for politics.

Last week, New Jersey Governor McGreevey stunned viewers with a televised speech in which the father of two, his wife at his side, said, "I am a gay American." He admitted to having a homosexual affair and said he would step down from the Garden State's most powerful job in November.

"It hardly carried the seriousness of John F. Kennedy's assassination or the significance of the moon landing," The Montclair Times wrote. Still, the Northern New Jersey newspaper said McGreevey's announcement, "could turn out to be that sort of 'Where were you when' event based on its shock value."

Syracuse University pop culture professor Robert Thompson said that until recently Americans would have been shocked that the governor was gay, but media coverage has suggested a less homophobic nation. "The fact that McGreevey had an affair with a guy isn't nearly as big a deal as it would have been in the past," he said.

Since then, the tale has grown stranger, even in a state known for its political intrigue and as the setting for television's mob hit "The Sopranos."

McGreevey's dalliance was said to be with Cipel -- a man who briefly served under him as the state's top homeland security official. Sources close to the governor said Cipel was trying to extort millions of dollars to keep the affair quiet.

Cipel, a former sailor and poet and an Israeli national, lacked any obvious qualifications for that job and was unable to attend security briefings since he was not a U.S. citizen. Cipel was quick to rebut the governor.

SMEARED AND HARASSED?

Cipel's lawyer accused the governor of a smear campaign, said McGreevey's aides had offered to pay Cipel for his silence and insisted his client had been sexually harassed. Then Cipel, who fled to Israel, told reporters he wasn't gay.

"This is definitely the best soap opera of the year," said Village Voice writer Michael Musto, who has been covering for the weekly tabloid the sauciest scandal in these parts since former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced he was leaving his wife because he had a "special friend."

"Like any good political gossip story, it keeps growing in surprising ways, which makes for the best stories," Musto added. He said that, in his view, the McGreevey debacle was also classic tabloid fodder because "everybody is lying."

The incompatible stories of the disgraced governor and the former Israeli seaman were summed up by the tabloid New York Daily News under the front page headline "He said: He said."

By Wednesday, a corruption probe that had dogged McGreevey before his confession made headlines. His top contributor, Charles Kushner, pleaded guilty to charges of interfering with a witness, his brother-in-law.

Kushner faces prison time for encouraging his brother-in-law to sleep with a prostitute and then giving the tape to the man's wife, Kushner's sister, to tamper with a federal corruption probe.

As if all that wasn't enough, a New Jersey physician, Michael Miller, then appeared on local television wearing only shorts to claim he had had a homosexual relationship with Cipel. The exiled former state employee denied the claim.

By Friday, a judge in Newark, New Jersey ordered a psychiatric evaluation for Miller, who was arrested late on Thursday on charges of pretending to be a law enforcement officer and for telling people he was a CIA operative.

While the drama continues, powerful New Jersey Democrats are working to convince McGreevey to step down before September 3 so an election can be held in November for the remainder of his term. U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine is the man they want to take over.