Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey said yesterday that he and his wife and a male aide engaged in sexual threesomes, contradicting a denial issued hours earlier by his estranged wife.

In an e-mail to the Associated Press, the nation's first openly gay governor said that published reports by former campaign aide Teddy Pedersen are true.

In interviews posted online Sunday night by the Star-Ledger of Newark and the New York Post, Pedersen said that he had had consensual sex with the couple for about two years before McGreevey became governor. He said he had had contact only with Dina Matos McGreevey during the trysts, and wasn't sure whether McGreevey was gay.

In his statement, McGreevey said he and his estranged wife need to move forward for the sake of their 6-year-old daughter.

"This happened, this happened in the past, and now we need to move on with our lives," McGreevey, 50, said.

His e-mail to the Associated Press came shortly after one from Matos McGreevey. She said Pedersen's claims "are completely false and were prompted by Jim McGreevey."

"Jim has had a close relationship with Pedersen since his days as mayor of Woodbridge, and arranged jobs for Pedersen from that time through his years as governor and beyond," said Matos McGreevey, 41.

Pedersen went with McGreevey and his boyfriend on a trip to China last summer, causing Matos McGreevey to inquire in court papers whether his fare had been funded by a bank account the former governor and his partner share.

The McGreeveys are in the midst of an acrimonious divorce. She accuses him of hiding his homosexuality before and during their marriage and has sued for damages. He has said she should have known he was gay.

Pedersen has given a sworn deposition about the sexual liaisons and expects to be called as a witness in the divorce trial.

Pedersen, 29, told the newspapers that the threesomes went on for about two years during the McGreeveys' courtship and into their marriage. He said the trysts ended when McGreevey was elected governor in 2001.

Calls placed by the AP yesterday to two published listings for Pedersen rang unanswered.

Pedersen said he came forward because he was angry that Matos McGreevey was offering television commentary on the resignation of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who stepped down last week amid a call-girl scandal. During her commentary, Matos McGreevey said that she had been blindsided when her husband announced his homosexuality.

McGreevey resigned in 2004 after acknowledging an affair with a male staffer who McGreevey said was trying to blackmail him. The ex-staffer said the Democratic governor had sexually harassed him.

The McGreeveys separated shortly after McGreevey's nationally televised speech in which he declared himself "a gay American." *