As Democratic infighting stupidly continues over the timing of McGreevey's resignation, questions are being raised over the role of Touro University in the Cipel scandal.
"The federal investigation into Gov. James E. McGreevey's accusation that a former aide tried to extort him by threatening to reveal their extramarital affair is now focusing on a strange, last-minute offer to keep the matter secret if the governor agreed to approve a plan for a new medical school in New Jersey, according to three people involved in the inquiry.
Just 10 minutes before Mr. McGreevey was scheduled to announce his resignation last Thursday, a member of his inner circle received a telephone call from a lawyer who identified himself as an intermediary for Golan Cipel, the aide who was threatening to sue the governor for sexual assault and harassment.
The caller, Timothy Saia, reportedly said that Mr. Cipel would agree not to go public with his charges if Mr. McGreevey granted a charter to Touro College, a New York City institution that has been unsuccessfully seeking to open a medical facility in New Jersey for months.
State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, the McGreevey confidant who received the call, declined to comment on the conversation. But Mr. McGreevey's lawyers reported the offer to the F.B.I., and federal officials involved with the case said that the authorities were now trying to determine whether it was an attempt to extort the governor."
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"The surprising mention of Touro College made some of the governor's advisers question whether Charles Kushner, a major McGreevey campaign contributor who was recently charged with hiring prostitutes to silence a witness in a fund-raising investigation, might have played a role in Mr. Cipel's threat to file suit.
Mr. Kushner, a developer, is on the advisory board of Touro College and has been an enthusiastic supporter of the school's plan to open a New Jersey medical school. He helped raise money for the planned school and hoped to have it named after his late mother. He also has ties to Mr. Cipel, whom he once employed and whom he sponsored for his visa when Mr. Cipel came to the United States from Israel."
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"In its effort to get approval of a charter, Touro was also represented by former Senator Robert G. Torricelli, who now works as a political consultant. Mr. McGreevey's advisers said that in recent months, Mr. Torricelli and his aides had been unsuccessfully trying to arrange meetings with the administration to push for the project.
Mr. Torricelli did not return calls seeking comment Monday, but his aide, Sean Jackson, told The Associated Press that they were not involved in Mr. Cipel's efforts."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/17/nyregion/17touro.html