Let’s get to the meat of the Gov. James McGreevey issue, shall we? In his relationship with Golan Cipel, the real question, of course, is to ask was McGreevey the top or the bottom. Perhaps Cipel gives some clues in the following story.

TRENTON- A former aide to Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey identified himself Friday as the man with whom the governor had an extramarital affair, but said the relationship was far from consensual.

The former aide, Golan Cipel, issued a statement through his lawyer in Manhattan, saying that he had been subjected to sexual exploitation and retaliation by the governor and had suffered “emotional distress and turmoil.” “While employed by one of the most powerful politicians in the country, New Jersey Governor McGreevey, I was the victim of repeated sexual advances by him,” the statement said. “I was the victim whose oppressor was one of the most powerful politicians who made sure to let me know that my future was in his hands.”

The statement used the word victim four times, and in it Mr. Cipel said he “did not have the strength to disentangle myself from such an oppressive environment and from such a manipulative person.” He said his aim in going public was to make Mr. McGreevey “take responsibility publicly for his horrible actions, which he did by resigning from public office.”

The governor’s office, in a second day of turmoil in the State House, quickly responded, saying there was no abuse involved in the relationship with Mr. Cipel, a young Israeli who was appointed to a $110,000-a-year job by the governor in February 2002.

“These are completely and totally false allegations from a person trying to exploit his relationship with the governor,” said Micah Rasmussen, Mr. McGreevey’s press secretary. “As the governor said yesterday, the relationship was consensual. Any suggestion otherwise is totally false.”

Mr. Cipel’s allegations came a day after the governor’s sudden and dramatic declaration that he was gay and that he would resign, effective Nov. 15, to avoid allegations that could compromise the office. The announcement and circumstances of the resignation have riveted the nation and thrown politics in the state into turmoil.

The governor acknowledged an affair with another man but did not identify him and did not disclose what prompted his announcement: a warning that Mr. Cipel, who left the state payroll two years ago, planned a lawsuit.

The two starkly disparate versions of events raised even more questions about the bizarre circumstances surrounding Mr. McGreevey’s departure, and his relationship with the man he hired over objections about his qualifications.

The two met on a trip Mr. McGreevey took to Israel, before his election. Mr. Golan was a public information officer for a municipal government. People on Mr. McGreevey’s campaign staff said they were baffled when he hired Mr. Cipel as a campaign adviser.

Legislators were baffled, too, when the newly elected Mr. McGreevey named Mr. Cipel his anti-terrorism adviser. At 33, Mr. Cipel had no experience in security, beyond service in the Israeli military, and as a noncitizen he was not eligible for a security clearance by the United States government.

Mr. Cipel worked in state government for six months. After he resigned, Mr. McGreevey continued to help him find jobs in public relations.

A federal law enforcement source confirmed Friday that the F.B.I. was looking into an accusation made Thursday by the governor’s lawyers that Mr. Cipel’s lawyer, Allen M. Lowy, had asked for $5 million to agree not to sue. It was not clear, however, whether the F.B.I. had opened an investigation or questioned anyone on either side.

While the two sides made competing charges involving extortion and hush money, Mr. Cipel’s lawsuit has not materialized. Mr. Lowy said in his announcement that “only time will tell” whether it would proceed, and he ducked into a cab several blocks from the news conference he had called without answering further questions from reporters.

Mr. Cipel, who lives in Manhattan, has not been seen publicly or answered messages requesting comment.

Mr. McGreevey’s lawyer, William E. Lawler 3rd, said that “the fact that they aren’t filing a suit is the clearest possible proof that they don’t have, and didn’t ever have, a real claim against the governor.”

Republicans on Friday demanded Mr. McGreevey’s immediate resignation, as they did Thursday, and made even stronger statements after Mr. Cipel’s allegations.

“Golan Cipel’s lawyer’s statement is exactly why the governor needs to spare New Jersey this ugly and painful episode,” said State Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos, the Republican state chairman.

The Senate President, Richard J. Codey, is to become acting governor upon Mr. McGreevey’s resignation. Under the state Constitution, a special election must be held if a governor leaves office more than 60 days before the next scheduled balloting, which this year is on Nov. 2.

While the Republicans argued that Mr. McGreevey should allow voters to choose their next governor, they can do little to force him from office before the constitutional deadline, Sept. 2. Democrats control both houses, and neither is scheduled to meet before Labor Day. Mr. McGreevey made no public appearances or statements, though aides described him as upbeat and relieved at having ended years of secrecy and doubt.

He spent about half an hour addressing staff and cabinet members Friday afternoon in a farewell that Kathleen Ellis, his director of communications, said was “very, very emotional.”

“There was an awesome ovation both when he left and when he arrived,” Ms. Ellis said.

The governor’s aides said he planned to spend the weekend with his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, who stood by his side during his speech, and their 3-year-old daughter, Jacqueline.

Mr. Codey, meanwhile, promised to work with the governor during the three-month transition – a transition that Republicans say is unnecessary – until he assumes the role of acting governor.

His term expires in January 2006. The governor will “put the pedal to the metal and work as he always does,” Mr. Codey said at a news conference in West Orange, his hometown.

Mr. Codey, a 57-year-old Democrat who has been a legislator for 30 years, said it was too early to say whether he would seek election in 2005.

The political battles were being played out even as the legal battles threatened all day. Finally, after the courts had closed and no lawsuit had been filed, Mr. Cipel’s lawyer, Mr. Lowy, made a late-afternoon appearance in New York, on the steps of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The statement he read contained few facts but laid out a basic argument from Mr. Cipel that he had been forced into a sexual relationship with Mr. McGreevey and that retaliatory actions had been taken against him “when I finally dared to reject Governor McGreevey’s advances.”

After reading Mr. Cipel’s statement, Mr. Lowy read one of his own, acknowledging that there had been discussions with the governor’s office in the days leading up to Mr. McGreevey’s resignation. But, he said, “it was only at the insistence of the governor’s representatives that I agreed to meet with them before filing a lawsuit.”

“In fact,” he continued, “it was Mr. McGreevey’s representatives who, without provocation, offered a sum of money to make my client go away.”

Mr. Lowy, who practices law in Manhattan and has ties to both Jewish causes and the music industry, would not answer questions about Mr. Cipel’s whereabouts or the nature of the sexual advances that Mr. Cipel referred to.

Mr. Rasmussen, the governor’s press secretary, said that “the statement regarding an offer of payment for him to ‘go away’ is absolutely false.”

According to advisers to the governor, the McGreevey administration first learned of Mr. Cipel’s plan to take legal action against the governor on July 23, when his lawyer, Mr. Lowy, called the governor’s office and left a message indicating that he was preparing to file a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Michael DeCotiis, Mr. McGreevey’s chief counsel, was informed of the message and he called Mr. Lawler, a lawyer in private practice who has been representing the governor in an ongoing federal investigation into campaign fund-raising. The advisers said that, when the governor’s lawyers returned the call, Mr. Lowy informed them that he planned to file a sexual harassment suit. Mr. Lowy would not describe the factual basis for the claim, Mr. McGreevey’s advisers said, but insisted that he thought he could win a $50 million judgment in the case and would be willing to settle for $5 million.

The governor’s advisers said that Mr. McGreevey’s legal team had six or seven conversations with Mr. Lowy in the 20 days between that first call and the governor’s resignation, and said that Mr. Lowy never laid out the factual basis for any legal complaint.

During the third or fourth call, they said, Mr. Lowy first mentioned that Mr. Cipel was accusing Mr. McGreevey of sexually assaulting him but declined to provide details about when or how the alleged assault took place.

The advisers said the governor’s lawyers asked Mr. Lowy whether they could meet with Mr. Cipel to see whether he would describe the details of his claim, but Mr. Lowy declined to arrange the meeting. Late last week, the lawyers spoke for the last time, with Mr. Lowy reportedly repeating his demand for $5 million and the governor’s lawyers saying that they would not discuss any possible settlement until they saw some representation of the facts Mr. Cipel intended to use to argue his complaint.

On Friday, while reporters were stationed outside courthouses around the state awaiting the filing of any legal papers by Mr. Cipel, the governor’s lawyers were also looking to see what the suit would allege, the governor’s advisers said.

For nearly everyone in the state, the governor’s announcement was a shock, but for the staff members who have tied their professional futures to Mr. McGreevey, it was a more personal blow. Aides who the day before were concerned about the direction of government policy suddenly found themselves worrying about their boss and their own careers.

“It is a combination of feelings,” said Eric Shuffler, the governor’s counsel. “People are incredibly proud of the way the governor handled himself, but there are a lot of people who are devastated by the turn of events.”Mr. Codey said Friday that he had not made any staffing decisions for his administration. “There may be some people who want to leave, there may be some people who want to stay,” he said.

Diane Legreide, the governor’s chief of management and operations, said Mr. Codey would probably retain much of Mr. McGreevey’s staff.

“Senator Codey I don’t think is going to want to replace an entire staff, which is a very difficult thing to do,” she said.