“There’s no question that Charlie Kushner was and is an enigma. Those of us in New Jersey politics were familiar with his Jekyll and Hyde act years before he emerged in the public eye.” Read the excerpt from Raymond Lesniak’s book.
Under continuous pressure from the press, McGreevey asked Cipel to resign in August 2002, after serving about six months. It was not, of course, the end of the story. McGreevey tried to help Cipel land on his feet, getting him a job at the hefty salary of $150,000 a year with one of New Jersey’s best connected lobbying firms, MWW, which represented Kushner along with many well-known New Jersey powerhouses.
The message was clear: Charlie was capable of anything, and if his siblings knew what was good for them, they’d keep their mouths shut. Instead, they told Christie about the tape and the FBI tracked down the call girl, who gave them information about the devious liaison Kushner had set up. Years later, Christie would say that Kushner committed “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he had ever prosecuted. On that point, I have to say I agree with Christie.
McGreevey showed up at my house in Ocean County the following morning, by himself. McGreevey had a unique arrangement for a governor. He had private drivers—friends of his—instead of a state trooper. Insiders took notice and wondered why that was necessary. McGreevey looked troubled. His face was drawn, and he had the tired eyes of somebody who wasn’t getting enough sleep. I asked my girlfriend and future wife, Salena, to take our dog Brittany for a walk while we spoke privately.
I immediately called off the discussion. Without a proffer of proof, Cipel’s demand would be an extortion, pure and simple, and not a legitimate claim. I would have nothing to do with that. I often wonder why Lowy wouldn’t produce the proffer. It’s standard practice in tort claims such as this. Perhaps there was a good reason why.
Everyone else believed McGreevey would face impeachment and removal from office, not because he put his lover on the state payroll—that certainly wouldn’t have been unique in politics—but because he put Cipel in a sensitive homeland security position not long after 9/11. The following morning was like none other in my career. News outlets had gotten wind of McGreevey’s impending announcement of his resignation, although not known was that he would use the occasion to tell the world he was a gay American. As I was pulling into the State House parking lot to attend the speech, my car phone rang. It was the lawyer, Timothy Saia, who set up my meeting with Alan Lowy. Saia said, “Tell McGreevey not to resign.
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