The Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J.(AP) - New Jersey’s security measures have been dramatically updated since a former gubernatorial adviser took brief tours of state facilities, and the man never compromised safety, State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said Friday.
Golan Cipel did visit state police security areas at Newark Liberty International Airport and the bridges and tunnels into New York, Fuentes said.
“Specifically, he was given a cook’s tour of state police deployments,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes’ comments came a day after Gov. James E. McGreevey made similar statements about Cipel, who has been identified by the governor’s aides as a man with whom McGreevey had an affair.
Nearly all of what Cipel saw during early 2002 has changed, Fuentes said Friday.
“Given these changes, I am confident that any insight gained at that time has no impact on our ability to effectively protect New Jersey’s citizens today,” Fuentes said.
During the tours, Cipel also saw New Jersey National Guard units, but had no access to classified information, Brig. Gen. Maria Falca-Dodson said. Hundreds of people were given the same tours and most of the security measures were visible to the general public, she said.
“What Mr. Cipel saw was probably no more than that,” Falca-Dodson said.
Gannett New Jersey reported in Thursday’s newspapers that Cipel was given sensitive security information and a tour of state sites most vulnerable to terrorist attack. Cipel also attended a homeland security meeting at the White House shortly after he was appointed to the adviser post in early 2002.
A former public relations official who had little security experience, Cipel was reassigned from his homeland security matters after news media reported he was unable to get a security clearance because he lacked U.S. citizenship. Cipel left state government in August 2002.
McGreevey announced Aug. 12 that he plans to resign Nov. 15, after disclosing he is gay and had engaged in an extramarital affair with another man.
Top aides to the governor said Cipel was the man with whom McGreevey was involved. Cipel has insisted he is not gay and has maintained he was sexually harassed by McGreevey.
Last week, Cipel, through his attorneys, said he would not file a lawsuit against the governor. He said McGreevey’s announcement was a sufficient admission of wrongdoing.