[1] During his gubernatorial tenure, McGreevey—who was then married to Dina Matos—appointed Israeli national Golan Cipel as Counselor to the Governor, advising on homeland security.

[2] On August 12, 2004, following threats of a sexual harassment lawsuit from Cipel, McGreevey publicly acknowledged his homosexuality and stated that he had engaged in an extramarital relationship; he also announced that he would resign the governorship effective November 15, 2004.

[25] Raised Catholic but maintaining a pro-choice stance on abortion, he stated as governor that he would not receive Communion at public church services.

[33][35] In addition, Cipel could not obtain a security clearance from the federal government, as he was Israeli and not a U.S. citizen; therefore, the FBI and the Secret Service would not provide him with intelligence.

[37] McGreevey brought up Cipel's name six weeks into his administration in a February 14, 2002, interview with The Record's editorial board at its offices, saying: We will not skimp on security.

According to the Star-Ledger newspaper, McGreevey even accompanied Cipel on a final walk-through of the townhouse, which the real estate agent said she found "odd".

[34][1] David D'Amiano, a key McGreevey fund-raiser, was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison for extorting $40,000 from a farmer, Mark Halper, a Middlesex County landowner cooperating with investigators.

In a conversation with Halper, McGreevey used the word "Machiavelli," the code allegedly arranged by D'Amiano intended to assure the farmer that his $40,000 campaign contribution would get him preferential treatment in a dispute over his land.

At the press conference, he said: "At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is.

"[42][43] He also said that he had "engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man" (whom his aides immediately named as Cipel),[44] and that he would resign effective November 15, 2004.

[37] New Jersey political circles had speculated about McGreevey's sexual orientation and questions about his relationship with Cipel had been alluded to in the media.

[37] The Star-Ledger won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its "coverage of the resignation of New Jersey's governor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover.

[54] McGreevey's decision to delay the effective date of his resignation until after September 3, 2004, avoided a special election in November to replace him as governor.

"[60] On September 15, U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. dismissed Afran v. McGreevey,[61] filed by Green Party lawyers Bruce Afran and Carl J. Mayer, dismissing their claim that the postponement of McGreevey's resignation had left a vacancy, thereby violating New Jersey residents' voting rights.

"[62][63] Afran re-filed the same suit in Mercer County Superior Court and Judge Linda R. Feinberg heard arguments on October 4, 2004.

Fellow Democrat and New Jersey Senate President Richard Codey took office upon McGreevey's resignation[64] and served the remainder of the term until January 17, 2006.

[65] At the time of McGreevey's resignation, the New Jersey State Constitution stipulated that the Senate president retains that position while serving as acting governor.

[50][48] McGreevey and his partner Mark O'Donnell regularly attended Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York, in addition to a local parish in New Jersey.

[77] McGreevey then worked at Integrity House at the Hudson County Correctional Facility with women inmates with a history of drug use.

[81] McGreevey's life after politics, his pursuit of the priesthood, and his ministry to prison inmates are covered in a 2013 HBO documentary film, Fall to Grace, directed by Alexandra Pelosi.

[85][86][87] The program, which provides re-entry coaching for those released from prison, along with other services, such as job opportunities and training, and substance abuse rehabilitation[88][89][90] is based at The Hub in the city's Jackson Hill neighborhood.

[93] Among those at the September 2014 opening of the facility called Martin's Place[94] (located on the major street of Martin Luther King Drive) were Brendan Byrne, Tom Kean, Steve Fulop, Chris Christie, Robert Menendez, Nancy Pelosi and Cornell William Brooks.

[95][96] The prisoner re-entry program, funded by the New Jersey Parole Board with a $4.2 million grant, is located in Sacred Heart Church, also in the neighborhood.