The NJ Blog

Gov. Jon Corzine has acknowledged for the first time that, while a candidate for governor in 2005, he gave state workers union leader Carla Katz, his former girlfriend, substantial gifts beyond what he previously disclosed.

The gifts were made to avoid "ongoing financial connections" after their serious, two-year relationship ended in the summer of 2004, Corzine told The Star-Ledger.

Corzine previously said that he forgave a $470,000 mortgage on Katz's home in Hunterdon County, but he had not spoken publicly of other gifts. In an interview Friday he refused to provide the amounts or any other details, but indicated they were more than tokens.

"If you were -- I'm hypothesizing; I'm not stating anything -- if you were going to pay a tuition bill or something over a period of time ... you pre-funded it," Corzine said. "I could have done that."

Asked if he paid for Katz's children to attend the private school where they are enrolled, Corzine demurred. "I'm not saying that at all," he said. "I'm saying you could have." The school in Pennsylvania lists its day-student tuition at $22,000 a year.