Inspector General’s report says human error, not political motive, to blame for release of Mikie Sherrill’s military records
Washington — In a discovering that places to relaxation months of partisan suspicion, the inspector basic for the National Archives and Records Administration concluded that the improper release of New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s largely unredacted military records throughout final 12 months’s governor’s race It was the outcome of human error, not political design.
While the disclosure of Sherrill’s private info raised issues as a result of of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Freedom of Information Act, investigators for the Archives’ watchdog discovered that the request submitted to the National Archives had been correctly filed. The failure, they concluded, occurred later: an Archives technician launched the records in error and did not adhere to established protocol.
Sherrill and different senior Democrats recommended the episode bore the hallmarks of coordination between her Republican opponent and Trump administration allies — a suspicion that lingered through the marketing campaign for New Jersey governor. Sherill in the end prevailed over Jack Ciattarellihis GOP opponent.
But the inquiry discovered there have been no political motivations for releasing the records. What emerged as a substitute was a bureaucratic misstep.
“As we said all along, the Ciattarelli campaign did nothing wrong. Now that the phony ‘Trump did it’ smokescreen — which most of the NJ press corps fell for — has been proven false, Governor Sherrill should come clean and release the records about her involvement in the Naval Academy cheating scandal,” mentioned Mark Sheridan of the regulation agency Squire Patton Boggs, who represents Ciattarelli’s marketing campaign.
A Sherrill spoke questioning the probe’s findings in an announcement Tuesday.
“The Trump Administration investigated itself and unsurprisingly found no political motivation — a conclusion that has zero credibility,” the spokesperson mentioned. “The bottom line is that the Trump Administration recklessly and illegally released Gov. Sherrill’s Social Security number, parents’ home address, and her unredacted military personnel file.”
CBS News initially started investigating Sherill through the marketing campaign over accusations that she was concerned within the 1994 Naval Academy scandalthe place greater than 100 midshipmen have been implicated in dishonest on an examination. Sherrill informed CBS News that she was not accused of dishonest and mentioned her solely involvement was not reporting on her fellow classmates. She was prevented from strolling throughout her commencement however did graduate and went onto serve within the US Navy.
CBS News obtained the outcomes of the investigation after submitting a request below the Freedom of Information Act to the National Archives earlier this 12 months. The investigation confirms CBS News’ earlier reporting.
“No evidence was developed during the investigation indicating the disclosure was politically motivated,” the investigation concluded. The Office of the Inspector General for the National Archives opened the investigation days after CBS News exclusively reported final 12 months that the Archives had launched Sherrill’s military records to Nicholas De Gregorio, a Ciattarelli ally.
The paperwork launched included Sherrill’s Social Security quantity, house addresses for her and her dad and mom, life insurance coverage info, Sherrill’s efficiency evaluations and the nondisclosure settlement between her and the federal government to safeguard labeled info.
CBS News’ report final 12 months ignited a political uproar. Both Sherrill’s and Ciattarellli’s campaigns lobbed legal threats and detrimental adverts at one another for the remaining of the race.
Political campaigns, opposition analysis companies and information organizations usually search the military records of present or former service members working for elected places of work for each vetting functions and to higher inform voters.
The investigation concluded that the Archives technician assigned to deal with the request from Ciattarelli’s affiliate, De Gregorio, ought to have notified his supervisor to escalate the request for a better stage of overview, because the request for info concerned a member of Congress. The identify of the Archives technician is redacted as a result of of privateness exemptions below the Freedom of Information Act.
The Archives technician admitted the error to investigators, saying it was probably “caused by being distracted and not focusing entirely on the task at hand.”
“Based on the severity of the improper release, on December 16, 2025, supervisory staff proposed the Archives Technician for removal from Federal service for Neglect of Duty,” in accordance to the investigation. The technician, who had labored on the Archives since about 2015, selected to retire slightly than face termination.
After the incident, the National Archives mentioned it instituted a number of practices to guarantee “enhanced reliability and accuracy of response for sensitive record and FOIA requests,” in accordance to the investigation. The Archives carried out coaching and carried out directives to keep away from future related errors in processing personnel records.
“I appreciate the Inspector General’s complete dismantling of Governor Sherrill’s false and potentially defamatory attacks against me. As a veteran myself, I filed a FOIA request to see if Governor Sherrill was lying to voters about her service. It turned out I was right to do so,” Gregorio informed CBS News. He added, “I encourage all citizens to use FOIA to hold our elected officials accountable.”
