Published in the Home News Tribune 8/15/02
TRENTON -- Golan Cipel, the controversial and highly paid adviser to Gov. James E. McGreevey, has resigned for personal reasons, the Governor's Office said yesterday.
Paul Aronsohn, communications director for McGreevey, said Cipel told McGreevey Tuesday he wanted to leave his job. "The governor accepted it with regret," Aronsohn said.
McGreevey was traveling and unavailable for interviews.
"I have received offers from private companies which I have decided to pursue. I thank the governor for his support and the opportunity to work for New Jersey," Cipel said in a statement issued by McGreevey's staff yesterday.
Asked whether Cipel's position would be filled and whether his three assistants would be retained, Aronsohn replied, "We will review our needs."
Cipel, 33, an Israeli citizen, was originally hired as McGreevey's lead security adviser in February. He resigned in March after questions about his background, but was kept on the government payroll at $110,000 a year.
The administration declined to give a formal job description or allow Cipel to be interviewed by the media.
McGreevey has said he met Cipel on a trip to Israel in 2000 and decided to bring him to the United States. Cipel was first hired by the Democratic State Committee, which also paid his $1,100 registration fee with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Cipel landed a second job with developer Charles Kushner, a top McGreevey campaign contributor, after McGreevey recommended him, a Kushner spokesman said.
Following McGreevey's election, he announced Cipel would focus on homeland security though Cipel couldn't get a federal security clearance because he is not an American.
Lawmakers were angry that McGreevey's top security aide was not subjected to a background check required for all Cabinet members and major nominations. When members of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded that Cipel testify before them, McGreevey reassigned him to a job as "counselor to the governor" with no specified duties.
A Gannett State Bureau report two weeks ago showed McGreevey relied on exaggerated anti-terrorism credentials to justify Cipel's hiring for the $110,000-a-year post, which included an office on the second floor of the Statehouse.
"This must be retreat week," said Senate Majority Leader Anthony Bucco, R-Morris. "Yesterday we watched as the governor backtracked on his opposition to open public records, and today he is saying good-bye to a high-paid political crony. It's about time, governor."
