McGreevey Lied to INS; Cited 9/11 to Hire Unqualified BoyToy as State’s Anti-terror chief

Old Freeper Thread ^ | 12/22/02 | SANDY MC CLURE

[dead]

Ex-McGreevey aide's credentials exaggerated - originally published 12/22/02

The Israeli national's expertise was in public relations.

TRENTON -- Despite his statements to the contrary, Gov. McGreevey, from the beginning, intended to make his now-departed Israeli adviser and friend, whose expertise was public relations, the state's point man on terrorism, documents obtained last week under the federal Freedom of Information Act show.

Using the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11 to justify the hiring, the governor's chief lawyer wrote a letter to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service on McGreevey's inauguration day, telling the federal agency that New Jersey wanted Cipel to coordinate increased security with all branches of government and that Cipel had the necessary "substantial experience" in public security.

The letter was part of a petition by the state for a specialty work visa that had to show Cipel was qualified for what he was being hired to do.

Israeli military expert and journalist Yossi Melman said the letter "more than exaggerates" Cipel's experience and capabilities in the Israeli Defense Force.

"The state of New Jersey's application (to the immigration service) in particular struck me as full of chutzpah," Melman said. "It is rather surprising that the governor went out of his way by using the pretext that his Israeli friend is a terrorist expert in order to accommodate him. I find it especially troubling to use the horrible events of 9/11 as a justification for the nomination of Golan Cipel to a highly important security position which he was not qualified for."

Asked whether the public was misled about the role Cipel was slated to play in New Jersey's security, McGreevey spokesman Kevin Davitt said, "Not to my knowledge."

"This is what we believed his (Cipel's) responsibilities were to be at that time," Davitt said of the letter. "As the administration moved forward, there was a determination made that we needed someone with better experience."

Davitt said that the INS was not misled about Cipel's qualifications.

As for whether Cipel was qualified for the security post, Davitt said, "I think it was found there were probably others more suited to do that job."

Cipel did not respond to requests for comment.

When Cipel quit last August after a Gannett New Jersey report on the exaggeration of his security credentials, the governor blamed the exaggeration on a poorly worded biography issued by McGreevey's office.

But the governor's chief counsel, Paul Levinsohn, who served as McGreevey's campaign finance chairman and is a longtime confidant of the governor, was detailed when he wrote to the federal immigration service and described how Cipel was qualified to be the governor's point man on security.

As McGreevey's special adviser on issues of homeland security and public safety, Cipel's duty would be disseminating and coordinating public safety programs with other state departments and branches of government, Levinsohn wrote.

Although early news accounts of the Israeli's hiring by the state of New Jersey pointed out that Cipel, who is not an American citizen, could not qualify for federal security clearance, that was ignored in the Levinsohn description of Cipel's duties.

The Levinsohn letter said Cipel would coordinate security issues between the governor's office and the New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, State Police, the New Jersey National Guard, the FBI and the Armed Forces.

'Exaggerated'

Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Morris, said the Levinsohn letter was crafted to place Cipel in a job he was not qualified to do.

"Basically, they exaggerated at a level that most people would find much closer to a mistruth," he said. "It is almost admitted by this administration that he is not an expert in security. He doesn't have years and years experience in it. He wasn't going to be able to pass the simplest of four-way background checks to be a state trooper, let alone talk to one."

Gannett New Jersey obtained the Levinsohn letter last week from the U.S. Department of Justice through a federal Freedom of Information Act request filed last summer with the immigration service. The requests traditionally take months for a response.

Levinsohn has been the subject of his own recent controversy over the money he earned, just before McGreevey took office, from a billboard company whose procedures in obtaining a lucrative billboard deal in South Jersey have been questioned. The FBI is in-vestigating that deal.

In the U.S. Department of Labor application, dated Jan. 9, before McGreevey took office, Levinsohn listed his title as assistant attorney general, a courtesy title the administration said he was given, and sworn-in to, during the transition period. Cipel's potential employer is listed as the state Department of Law and Public Safety.

Davitt said the letter could not be found in state files, but Levinsohn had a copy at his home.

To hire Cipel for the homeland security and public safety post, the state needed to show that Cipel had a bachelor's degree in an area related to security or collegiate-level expertise in the field, according to U.S Labor De-partment expert Stephen Stefanko.

In the state's application on Cipel's behalf for his H-1B work visa for a specialty occupation, Levinsohn said Cipel had the necessary background in the areas of security and anti-terrorism initiatives.

From 1995 to 1999, while earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in communications from the New York Institute of Technology, Cipel worked for the Consulate General of Israel in New York, where he had the title of chief information officer.

In his letter, Levinsohn described Cipel's work at the consul:

"In particular, his experience as chief information officer, consulate general of Israel, involved responsibility for developing and maintaining the country's terrorism portfolio, keeping government authorities abreast of terrorist activities and threats, maintaining a database of such activities and coordinating that information with data obtained from other agencies."

But former Consul Collett Avital, a member of the Israeli parliament and the official in charge of the consulate while Cipel worked there, told Gannett, "He (Cipel) was not involved in anything related to terrorism."

The Levinsohn letter also stated that "as a naval officer in the Israel Defense Force, Mr. Cipel functioned as a special operations officer and was appointed as media adviser, disseminating data on military operations and anti-terrorism measures to the media while insuring that sensitive information was not disclosed. As such, he is well-qualified in the areas of information gathering, dissemination and sharing with other agencies."

Cipel served for five years in the Israel Defense Force with a Navy patrol boat unit before serving a 10-year stint in the reserves at the Homeland Command, where he reached the rank of lieutenant.

Melman likened Cipel's military service to serving five years in the U.S. Navy followed by 10 years in the National Guard Reserves. Service in the Homeland Command is noncombatant duty known in Israel as an easy, comfortable place to do military service, Melman said.

Levinsohn told the INS that Cipel would be paid $80,000. As one of McGreevey's highest advisers, his salary was $110,000.

When Cipel's appointment first came under fire early this year, McGreevey said Cipel was never intended to be the state's official terrorism leader, only a personal adviser on the issue.

His security role from the beginning, McGreevey said in August, was to do an exhaustive evaluation of published best practices on the subject.

In the August interview, McGreevey argued that Cipel had been hired in the role of adviser to the governor on numerous issues and that his first assignment was security.

McGreevey initially responded to the criticism concerning Cipel by taking him off the security issue and moving him to a general adviser.

INS records show that the state applied in March to change Cipel's specialty designation from special consul to the governor on security issues to policy adviser. The March letter, authored by Levinsohn, does not mention security issues or Cipel's security qualifications.

After Cipel resigned in August, McGreevey recommended him for a job at the politically connected public relations firm of MWW Group in East Rutherford. An official there said Cipel only stayed a month because the company and Cipel did not agree on the amount of time he was expected to spend in the office.

With another recommendation from McGreevey, Cipel has been hired at State Street Partners, a small Trenton lobbying firm whose partners include McGreevey's best friend, Rahway Mayor James Kennedy.

McGreevey has described Cipel as a very good friend whose advice he still seeks and who still does outreach for the governor to the Jewish community.

Before joining the McGreevey administration, Cipel was parttime director of Jewish outreach for the Democratic State Committee during McGreevey's election campaign at a salary listed on the INS application at $30,000 a year. He also was a part-time public relations associate for McGreevey's top campaign contributor, at an additional $30,000 a year, INS records show.

The contributor, Charles Kushner, has since been appointed to the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

McGreevey said he met Cipel during a 2000 trip to Israel, where Cipel served as spokesman for the city of Rishon Le Zion.

Kushner's firm filed the first INS application for Cipel in the fall of 2000, and he re-entered the United States in February 2001, according to INS records.

Lawyers for Kushner's firm and the Democratic State Committee also filed letters with INS applications for his work visas, but the letters made no mention of his security qualifications.

[SunnyUsa]

Isn't Woodbridge and Edison merged into one entity now ?

No, They are seperate townships

Both Woodbridge Township & Edison Township have around 100K people

I grew up in middlesex county

[saradippity]

"unless he used retard McGreevey as a tool to access America AND get paid."

I think you are right on the money. Homosexuality is a Mutual Benefit Society and the mutual benefits are limited to the homosexual parties. The unholy obsession with sex that homosexuals have is brought to front and center with this story. It is hard to imagine how an elected official could put his constituents in more jeopardy than already exists. Yet by placing an Israeli national to head up the Homeland Security in New Jersey,McGreevy did just that.

This case demonstrates how their sexual proclivities drive reason,logic and decency out of the decision making equation,thus their decisions are based on emotion and desire. Pursuing the desired "other",pleasing him using other people's money, trumps everything else.

Whether merited or not the men behind the Terrorists have often used as an excuse for their actions,this country's apparent soft spot for the nation of Israel. Placing an Israeli citizen in charge of Homeland Security was waving a red flag at a raging bull. Their lust is unbounded.

[Grampa Dave]

In NJ and NY with the mobs and the Rats, the US attorney's have a lot on their plates.

[holyscroller]

"Wasn't it a rumor a few years back that Christy Todd Whitman used to be a woman?"

LOL!

[muslims=borg]

hahahah....we were there at the same time then...

[muslims=borg]

Yeah Edison is huge, I never really understood it because its Edison down by the Raritan river rt1 bridge and its Edison all the way up by Menlo Park mall. But Metuchen is in between the two.

[justshutupandtakeit]

It is Merry Christmas indeed. Watching the RATS self-destruct is an always welcome sight under my tree. This is further support for my contention that Illinois, New Jersey and Louisiana are the most corrupt states in the Nation.

Streeter is doing his best to bring Philadelphia into this select group.

[saradippity]

Check out posts #122 and #63. There are so many threads on the subject that I've decided to make only one comment today and it's #122. This could be very big and not limited to New Jersey. I just wonder who moved what piece on the chess board, and why today?

One reasonable explanation I heard was that the statute of limitations was running out on harrassment complaints and that Cipil lost his position sometime in August two years ago.

Men didn't know how good they had it when they believed the worst thing they could be confronted with was the fury of a woman scorned,ha-ha,little did they know the rage that lay in the bosoms of their fellow men.

[blasater1960]

He's going to jail

OOOOooohhhhh wont he be Mr Popular there !

[musicman]

Thanks for posting the pic of the "other MAN " in your #103
post.

I was wondering something after I saw the pic you posted.

He is wearing a nice looking blue suit.

I remember another "famous" affair that had a "stained blue dress" involved with it.

I wonder if there could be a "stained blue suit" in this guys "closet" ??

[NYCVirago]

As I said on another thread - everybody even remotely interested in politics in this state knew that McGreevey was gay. And everybody knew he hired his unqualified boy toy to be THE STATES ANTI-TERRORISM CHIEF! The press knew. The politicians knew. But they never made it a story. This state is corrupt from top to bottom.

Thanks for finding this. I saw in the Times that McGreevey was asked by one brave reporter at the time of this story whether there was some gay relationship there. McGreevey angrily denied it, saying "Don't be ridiculous."

[longtermmemmory]

This is most disturbing. The media KNEW and did not think a sexual compromising relationship was a problem in a security job.

Obviously the media is fighting for a differnt side than the USA in the war on terrorism.

[NYCVirago]

This is most disturbing. The media KNEW and did not think a sexual compromising relationship was a problem in a security job. Obviously the media is fighting for a differnt side than the USA in the war on terrorism.

Exactly. And I also don't get why gay activists are so thrilled about this guy coming out. After all, what does this story say? In a post 9/11 world, a closeted gay man put his sex life ahead of his state's security by putting his lover in charge of his state's homeland security. That's hardly cause for jubilation.

[Southack]

"boyfriend is expected to sue the governor for sexual harassment in the near future."

And this will be an interesting contrast to watch and compare how the liberal news media treats the man charging sexual harassment against a beloved Democratic leader...compared to say, how they would treat such charges against a Republican. 5 will get you 10 that the news media slimes the boy toy from here to San Francisco and back with charges of blackmail, extortion, prostitution, etc.

On the other hand, if a Republican was charged with sexual harassment (e.g. Packwood, Thomas, et al), the press would be expected to treat the accuser as a saint...

5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[Southack]

"He's proud to be whatever sexual orientation. And, he's "sorry" that his conduct subjected the gov's office to potential blackmail, etc. Oh. That's all. No big deal, especially in this post 9-11 world..."

Frankly, the real story is that the news media can always be counted on to dig up 20 out of work actresses who claimed that they were all sexually harassed by a multi-millionaire Republican (but who just didn't bother suing him for a big settlement)...but they never seem to be able to point out that half the state knows their Democratic governor is having a gay affair and misusing state funds.

These sorts of rumors have been flying about Senator Edwards, for instance, but is a single liberal reporter going to even bother to investigate, much less report on such things against a fellow Democrat?!

5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[tdadams]

bump

[lysie]

Thanks, Jim.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

LOL. This should upset the local NJ fruits as the Governor didn't think they were good enough for him.

I wonder if the great unwashed masses will even consider that McGreedy put them all in danger by his appointment of an unqualified person into such an important office.

[OldFriend]

The republicans support McG. They cashed in on all his corruption. Big time.

[OldFriend]

McG could never have gotten away with his corruption without the help of the republicans. Donny DiFrancesco's name comes to mind........

We needed a Rudy!