Free Republic

Trenton, N.J. (AP) -- Former Gov. James E. McGreevey will not have to pay alimony to his ex-wife, a judge ruled Friday in granting the couple a divorce after a tumultuous eight-year marriage that crumbled publicly when McGreevey acknowledged he was a "gay American." A superior court judge ruled Friday that McGreevey, the nation's first openly gay governor, must pay $250 a week, or $1,075 a month, in child support for his 6-year-old daughter with Dina Matos. Matos had asked for $2,500 a month alimony for four years and $1,750 a month in child support. The couple share custody of...

ELIZABETH, N.J. -- The nation's first openly gay governor was back in court Thursday, testifying for a second day as he tries to convince a judge he is too poor to pay alimony to his estranged wife. Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey testified Wednesday that he has limited income, few assets and significant debts. He said he is all but unemployable because of the gay sex scandal that toppled his administration and ongoing publicity in his messy divorce. "Because of this case, I have been financially crippled," McGreevey told the judge. McGreevey, 50, stepped down 13 months before his...

TRENTON, N.J. - His estranged wife denies it, but former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey said they engaged in threesomes with a male aide. In an e-mail to The Associated Press Monday, McGreevey confirmed published reports by former campaign aide Teddy Pedersen. Pedersen said he had consensual sex with the couple for about two years before McGreevey became governor. McGreevey said the encounters happened, but the couple needs to move forward for the sake of their 6-year-old daughter. "This happened, this happened in the past, and now we need to move on with our lives," McGreevey said. Dina Matos McGreevey...

McGreevey tells wife: You'll get zilch from me BY ADAM NICHOLS DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, September 15th 2007, 4:00 AM Jim McGreevey yesterday accused his soon-to-be-ex wife of "greedily" grabbing at the perks of being New Jersey's First Lady - and refusing to give them back. In legal papers packed with snide and catty comments, the openly gay McGreevey told estranged wife Dina Matos McGreevey she can expect to get nothing from him. Matos McGreevey had asked him to pony up $4,000 a month in alimony to help her live a lavish lifestyle like his. "Her jealousy and contempt...

WASHINGTON — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate Saturday after pressure from fellow Republicans to step down after an arrest in a men's room sex sting, according to a report. Craig decided to resign with plans to make the announcement on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. Craig will hold a news conference in Boise on Saturday, his spokesman, Dan Whiting said, but he would not say whether the three-term senator planned to step down. Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, however, appeared to have settled on a successor: Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, according to several Republicans familiar with...

This week, Dina Matos McGreevey filed court papers accusing former Gov. Jim "I am a gay American" McGreevey of extreme cruelty, fraud and libel, for concealing his homosexuality in order to marry her. And so the McGreevey saga continues. I'd say "only in America," but I suspect this is a story that could happen only in New Jersey. Imagine: You are the governor of New Jersey and (by your own account) you're having sex with a young man behind your wife's back. The young man in question describes it as nonconsensual sexual harassment, but never mind. The feds are closing...

<p>Gay former Gov. Jim McGreevey is ramping up an increasingly contentious divorce from his estranged wife, suggesting she's homophobic and asking a court to bar her from dragging their 5-year-old daughter on tours to promote a much-anticipated tell-all.</p> <p>In the latest motions detailing his demands for joint custody of the girl, Jacqueline, the former New Jersey governor asks a judge to ensure he's not cut off from her as a result of Dina Matos McGreevey's "seemingly irrational fears" about his sexuality.</p>

McGreevey seeks sole custody of 5-year-old daughter Former governor's amended divorce lawsuit also asks for child support Tuesday, March 13, 2007 BY JOSH MARGOLIN Star-Ledger Staff Former Gov. James E. McGreevey has revised his divorce lawsuit against his estranged wife and is now seeking sole custody of the couple's 5-year-old daughter -- and child support. The new documents make no mention of a "matrimonial settlement agreement" that McGreevey's original divorce filing said had resolved all issues of custody and support. Advertisement McGreevey, who resigned as governor after announcing he had had an affair with a male aide, has retained a...

Former Governor McGreevey is seeking sole custody of his five-year old daughter and child support from his estranged wife. In a revised divorce lawsuit filed in Elizabeth, the nation's first openly gay governor does not mention a "matrimonial settlement agreement" that McGreevey originally said had resolved all issues of custody and support. McGreevey declined to discuss particulars with The Star-Ledger of Newark. The newspaper says Dina Matos McGreevey hung up without answering questions when contacted by cell phone yesterday. Matos McGreevey has not filed a formal response. The two have lived apart since November 2004. That's when McGreevey resigned for...

Howard Dean wants Republican presidential candidates to apologize for Ann Coulter's insinuation that Edwards is a "faggot." Granted, it is popular among Democrats to have third parties apologize for someone else's actions, but in this case, "reparations for Coulter" shouldn't stop at GOP presidential wannabe's. Conservatives at large should consider apologizing, too. There was wisdom in Edwards' reaction to Coulter's comment: "I think it's important that we not reward hateful, selfish, childish behavior with attention. I also believe that is important for all of us to speak out against language of this kind; it is the place where hatred gets...

The possible presidential candidacy of the biracial senator has sparked an illuminating debate on race. WE KNOW this: Barack Obama is a rising star. He's a powerful speaker and a gifted writer. He is the only African American serving in the U.S. Senate. But is he black? That's what New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch asked last month, and his answer was decidedly "no." No, Crouch wasn't just employing the old "blacker than thou" canard. Nor was he concerned with the fact that Obama was raised by his white mother. Rather, he was treating blackness not just as a...

Two years removed from the most difficult chapter of her life, Dina Matos McGreevey is watching it unfold all over again. On Tuesday, former Gov. James E. McGreevey's tell-all memoir, "The Confession," will be released across America, and the storm of publicity over the book has been like an assault to the senses. "She just wants it to be done and move on with her life," said Jerry Casciano, who served as McGreevey's official photographer and who has maintained a close friendship with the former first lady. "She's just disgusted with everything." The book, a chronicle of McGreevey's life as...

10. "The Day I Got Caught Governing Myself" 9. "How To Pretend To Like Girls For 47 Years" 8. "From Schwarzenegger To Pataki: Governors I'd Like To Oil Up" 7. "Another Confession -- I Can't Resist Entenmann's Pound Cake" 6. "At First I Just Thought I Was Bipartisan" 5. "The New Jersey Budget Crisis -- What Would Judy Garland Do?" 4. "A Look At The Governor's Balls" 3. "Politicians Who Left A Bad Taste In My Mouth" 2. "How To Push Through A Bill -- Or A Steve Or A Larry..." 1. "Why I Don't Like Bush"

DAVID Letterman had a gay ol' time ....sending up former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and his warts-and-all bio, "The Confession," which chronicles his secret homo sexual life. Letterman's Top-10 chapter titles for McGreevey's tome: 10) "The Day I Got Caught Governing Myself;" 9) "How to Pretend to Like Girls for 47 Years;" 8) "From Schwar zenegger to Pataki: Governors I'd Like to Oil Up;" 7) "Another Confession - I Can't Resist Entenmann's Pound Cake;" 6) "At First I Just Thought I Was Bipartisan;" 5) "The New Jersey Budget Crisis - What Would Judy Garland Do?;" 4) "A Look at...

Since the case made waves on two continents over two years ago, Golan Cipel has been hiding from the media. The story of the relationship between the governor of New Jersey and the advisor from Israel was all over the American and Israeli papers, but until now Cipel has refused to be interviewed. With the publication of former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey’s tell-all book The Confession, Cipel has decided to break his silence. Since the story died down, Cipel has attempted to lead a quiet life. “It took me a long time to find work,” he notes. “At first...

by Mark Finkelstein September 20, 2006 - 08:35 Interviewed by 'Today' host Matt Lauer this morning, former NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey blamed the "immoral and ugly" way he acted out on his homosexuality on the fact that his parents were straight and thus couldn't act as role models. McGreevey was on to promote his new book, "The Confession." Lauer: "Not only as governor but as a state employee, you were living a very risky life-style. Anonymous sex with random men at places like highway rest stops. You write 'I was promiscuous and sexually active in ways I consider immoral and...

Thirty-four days after I was elected governor of New Jersey, I began a secret affair with an aide named Golan Cipel. It destroyed my career, ruined my marriage, and helped me discover who I really am.

"In this photo released by Harpo Productions, former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey, who stunned the nation when he said he had been involved in an affair with a man and would resign, is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006, in Chicago during a taping for an upcoming show. The hour-long program will be broadcast Sept. 19, the day McGreevey's much-anticipated 'The Confession,' being held by Winfrey, hits bookstores and he starts a national book tour."

The Barack Obama for president bandwagon has hit Illinois, but voters are split on when the freshman U.S. senator should get in the driver's seat. A quarter of voters want the South Side Democrat to seek the White House in 2008, and another 38 percent think he should wait until a later presidential year, according to a Chicago Sun-Times/NBC5 Poll. That means a combined three out of five voters see him as presidential timber.

Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey sexually harassed and assaulted Golan Cipel during his tenure as the state's homeland security chief, the former Israeli Army officer told the Daily News yesterday. 'He put his hands to my chest and pushed me into the bedroom. He pushed me onto the bed and jumped on me. We wrestled and he stopped. And there was this moment when ... I asked him, 'Why did you think I was gay?' And he said, 'Everybody's a little bit gay.'" Golan Cipel Cipel relayed quite a different reality from the one McGreevey recounts in his new...

McGreevey Admits to Affair While Wife in Labor During Oprah Sit-Down CHICAGO (AP) -- Former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey revealed during an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey that he was having an affair with the man who would become a central figure in his downfall while his own wife was hospitalized after the birth of their child, according to audience members who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The nation's first openly gay governor told Winfrey he believed he was in love with the man, said two audience members who agreed to speak only on...

McGreevey opens closet for Oprah but audience icy Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey spilled his guts to Oprah yesterday about the years he spent living as a closeted "gay American," but Oprah's audience was unimpressed. Oprah swore the audience to secrecy at the taping of her show, which airs Sept. 19 - the same day that McGreevey's memoir, "The Confession," hits store shelves. If the reaction of her fans who watched the taping are any indication, McGreevey's musings - for which he reportedly got a $500,000 advance - could be a tough sell. "Not impressed with him or his...

Barack Obama's rousing oration at the August 2004 Democratic convention established America's favorite son of a goatherd as the shining hope of his desperate party. After humiliating the hapless Alan Keyes in November, he took his seat in Washington as the junior Senator from Illinois and set himself immediately to the thankless service of the workingman. On June 4, Obama appeared in Galesburg to deliver a commencement address at Knox College that has liberal scribes writing love poems and doodling hearts inscribed "Obama 2008." In a valentine that appeared on the New Republic website, David Kusnet says that "All Obama...

ABC flacking for Clinton again. DIanne Sawyer promises Slick will make a "major announcement," "only here on Good Morning America." No time set, but indicated it was today.

Gov. James E. McGreevey on Monday submitted his letter of resignation, ending at midnight a tenure doomed since his shocking summertime disclosure he had engaged in a gay, extramarital affair. The one-sentence letter, signed by McGreevey, was filed with Secretary of State Regena Thomas. It says, "Dear Madam Secretary, I resign effective 11:59 p.m. on Monday, November 15, 2004. Sincerely, James E. McGreevey." Thomas' office received the letter from a member of the governor's legal staff at 9:15 a.m. Thomas also released Monday a signed version of the ceremonial oath of office taken the day before by McGreevey's replacement, Senate...

Final Report of the Election Procedures Review Committee This Committee finds that Atlantic County has a persistent and recurring problem with Election Fraud involving the misuse of absentee/messenger ballots. The Committee further concludes that the government entities responsible for conducting elections and enforcing election laws have not taken adequate steps to prevent or curb the abuse of absentee/messenger ballots. At the conclusion of our report, this Committee sets forth several recommendations of proactive steps we believe should be undertaken immediately to prevent the possibility of recurrence of voter fraud in Atlantic County. This Committee was originally formed pursuant to N.J.S.A....

<p>Well, I stared at the television in disbelief yesterday as our Governor deftly postioned himself as a victim and did everything possible to disenfranchize the people of New Jersey and maintain the Democrats power. It is unfortunate most people who viewed yesterday's new conference will miss the slick manipulation that was taking place even in the gov's public confession.</p>