December 03, 2006

He Said, He Said

Posted by: Chris

Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey claimed in his tell-all book "The Confession" that Golan Cipel was his lover, but the former aide went on "Larry King Live" this week to call the whole thing a lie. Cipel, now on his first trip back to the U.S. since returning to Israel after McGreevey resigned, tells a story so dramatically different than the former governor that only one thing is really clear: At least one of these two men is telling an incredibly brazen, and detailed, lie.

Here's a portion of the interview — and take note of Larry King's bizarre hand-wave and whispered scream off-camera:

Cipel claims that, rather than having a romantic and sexual relationship with McGreevey, the former governor sexually assaulted him on three occasions.  Two of the incidents have that "so strange they might just be true" quality to them. Cipel claims McGreevey, laid up in bed with a broken leg and his infant daughter in the same room, played with himself and tried to coax Cipel to the bed — all while the governor's wife and another aide were briefly out of the room.  In another, Cipel and McGreevey were in a van with two state troopers driving to Washington, and Cipel claims the governor, who was lying on a matress on the van's floor, put his exposed penis on Cipel foot and grabbed his leg — all while the troopers sat in the front seat.

These two incidents also could be true stories of consensual weirdness — McGreevey being sexually reckless with his secret boyfriend Cipel — that the former aide has twisted into assaults that also make his old boss look plain strange.  There are holes in Cipel's account; no satisfactory explanation for why he stayed in McGreevey's employ after the first two alleged assaults, and his claim he dropped the threatened harassment suit because McGreevey resigned and "it was never about the money." If that's the case, then how does Cipel explain demanding money (rather than a resignation)?

The two men's stories are so dramatically different that there's no reconciling them with your typical "truth is somewhere in between" shrug. It's hard to consider McGreevey to be credible, given his lifelong history of lies and deceit, not to mention the way he cashed in on his family's pain with a tell-all book, published by the now-infamous Judith Regan, the amoral mastermind behind O.J.'s recent "if I did it" farce.

But it's hard to believe Cipel's account when you remember that rumors of an affair between the two swirled with such intensity in the last months Cipel worked for McGreevey that reporters were assigned to track them down. Why would so many believe the two spent inordinate time with each other if, as Cipel claims, he was avoiding the governor because of the first two alleged assaults?

It's also eyebrow-raising that Cipel, a good-looking 38-year-old has never been married, though he told the Jerusalem Post that, "I'm just seeking a nice American Jewish bride." Can you say green card, anyone?

Whoever is telling the truth, Cipel's version of events only adds to the seediness of the whole sordid McGreevey affair.  Far too many within the gay community have embraced the former governor as a hero for coming out, mainly because he's a Democrat with a decent gay rights record, without regard for whether his account is true, and whether we — like so many others in McGreevey's life — are just being used.

Tags: Golan Cipel, James McGreevey