“Mikie Sherrill is a patriot and a hero,” Jeffries said. “They will be held accountable.” 

The release of Sherrill’s information came to light on Thursday following a New Jersey Globe report on a 1994 cheating scandal at the Naval Academy that resulted in the expulsion of two dozen midshipmen. Sherrill, who attended the academy at that time, did not cheat but said she was not allowed to walk at graduation because she failed to report her classmates involved in the scandal. She is listed as a “notable graduate” on the school’s website and went on to receive the Navy Achievement Medal for saving the life of a classmate at the academy.

Sherrill, who is running to become the next governor of New Jersey, has made her military service as a graduate of the Naval Academy and a helicopter pilot a focal point of her campaign. The 1994 scandal emerged during her 2018 race to flip the 11th District blue, but her campaign at the time told the New Jersey Globe she was not involved. 

Rules dictate that military files cannot be made fully available to the general public until 62 years after they finish their military service. The family of a deceased servicemember can request full access, but others requesting access are supposed only to receive portions of the files that are redacted for privacy or national security reasons.

The release of Sherrill’s records included her Social Security number, life insurance information, performance evaluations, and addresses for her and her family. A nondisclosure agreement was also released between her and the U.S. government to safeguard classified information.

Sherrill’s full military file was released on June 30 by the National Personnel Records Center, a branch of the Archives, to Nicholas De Gregorio, the Washington Examiner confirmed. The center told the Washington Examiner that it became aware of the breach on Tuesday, and a technician did not follow standard protocol when releasing the records and should have only released portions eligible under the Freedom of Information Act rules.

“The technician should NOT have released the entire record,” Grace McCaffrey, acting director of congressional affairs at the National Archives and Records Administration, told the Washington Examiner.

“The National Archives takes this breach of privacy very seriously, has contacted the congresswoman through her office to apologize and take steps to rectify the situation by reviewing all internal controls and processes at NPRC and coordinating with the Department of the Navy,” McCaffrey continued. “While breaches of this type do occur, they are exceedingly rare.”

McCaffrey said the agency has also alerted its inspector general to the breach.

De Gregorio is an ally of Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate running against Sherrill in the 2025 gubernatorial race, but his campaign neither encouraged nor hired him to access the files. 

He told CBS News his actions were not nefarious and any attempt to smear the situation as “records leaked by the Trump administration to injure her” is “completely and totally false.”

“When I saw [Sherrill’s] Social (Security number), I was shocked,” De Gregorio told the outlet. “All of a sudden, the NPRC decides to give it to [me] a random guy. I made no bones like, I wasn’t her, I wasn’t a family member. There was no relationship there. And so I didn’t know what to expect. So, I guess I’m a little shocked and kind of disgusted that the social was there.”

In a statement to multiple outlets, Sherrill said she didn’t walk at graduation but “graduated and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving for nearly ten years with the highest level of distinction and honor.”

“Jack continues to try and use any avenue he can to execute the MAGA playbook of smearing military service,” she added.  “Now, his latest attempt is to go after a 30-year-old widely reported incident when I was an undergraduate at the Naval Academy.” 

Campaigns seeking out opponents’ medical records are not uncommon, particularly in a close race where one candidate relies heavily on their military background to sway voters. 

Ciattarelli’s campaign told the New Jersey Globe that Sherrill’s “admission” that she was “implicated in, and punished for,” her role in the scandal is both “stunning and deeply disturbing.”

ENERGY POLICY EMERGES AS FOCAL POINT IN NEW JERSEY GUBERNATORIAL DEBATE

“For eight years, Mikie Sherrill has built her entire political brand around her time at the Naval Academy and in the Navy, all the while concealing her involvement in the scandal and her punishment,” Eric Arpert, Ciattarelli’s campaign manager, told the outlet. “The people of New Jersey deserve complete and total transparency.”

The news comes just a few hours after a poll from Emerson College found Sherrill and Ciattarelli in a dead heat, with both polling at 43%. But Sherrill still holds an 8.5-point advantage across an average of polls, meaning Ciattarelli is the underdog in the battle to flip the governor’s mansion red.