Top Democrats in Washington are calling for investigations after a branch of the National Archives released New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherill’s unredacted military record, including her Social Security number, to an individual who filed a Freedom of Information Act request.
Scott Levins, the director of the National Personnel Records Center, this week acknowledged the disclosure, which occurred in June, in a letter sent to Sherrill, who is the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey.
“I am writing to notify you that the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) released in error your Official Military Personnel Folder to an unauthorized requester,” Levins wrote in a letter dated September 22 and released by Sherrill’s campaign. “On behalf of the National Archives, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and aggravation this situation may cause you and for our failure to safeguard your military record from unauthorized release.”
Levins said that in June, the NPRC received a Freedom of Information Act request from Nicholas De Gregorio, a former Republican congressional candidate in New Jersey, asking for “all publicly releasable information” on Sherrill’s service in the Navy from her Official Military Personnel folder.
“In responding to this request, we should have provided only information that is releasable to the public under the FOIA. Unfortunately, however, in responding to the request, we released the comprehensive record, including personal information such as your social security number and date of birth,” Levins wrote.
Levins said the breach is “exceedingly rare” and the agency “will hold our staff accountable for failing to follow proper administrative procedures with regard to the release of your records.”
“The agency will also review its policies and procedures and provide additional staff training to prevent similar situations from happening in the future,” he wrote.
The Archives also offered Sherrill free credit monitoring services, and the agency has also asked De Gregorio to not disseminate the information, according to Levins’ letter.
In a separate statement provided to CNN, a spokesperson with the National Archives said a technician failed to follow “standard operating procedures” and should have only released information covered by FOIA rules. “The technician should not have released the entire record,” said Grace McCaffrey with the Archives.
In a post on social media, Sherrill said “This is an illegal and dangerous weaponization of the federal government. That [Jack Ciattarelli] and the Trump admin are breaking the law and exposing private records for political gain is a violation of anyone who has ever served. No veteran’s record is safe.”
The controversy comes less than six weeks before New Jersey’s gubernatorial election between Sherrill and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli. Sherrill has put her experience as a Navy helicopter pilot front and center of her campaign messaging.
CBS News first reported on the release of Sherrill’s unredacted military records.
De Gregorio told CBS News, “Given the charged political environment … Rep. Sherrill will no doubt seek to paint my actions as nefarious and the records as leaked by the Trump Administration to injure her, which as we both know is completely and totally false on both counts.”
De Gregorio told CBS News he was asked by Chris Russell, a Republican strategist working with the Ciattarelli campaign, to find information on the Democratic lawmaker. De Gregorio filed his initial FOIA request in May and upon receipt of the records, provided it to the Ciattarelli campaign, he told CBS News.
“When I saw [Sherrill’s] Social (Security number), I was shocked,” De Gregorio told CBS News. “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.”
CBS reports De Gregorio later said Ciattarelli’s campaign had not hired or encouraged him to access the files.
Legal counsel for Sherrill’s campaign has sent cease and desist letters to De Gregorio, Russell and the Ciattarelli campaign, though it’s unclear whether they have disseminated any information.
In a post on social media, Russell argued Sherrill’s campaign was attempting to distract from a report that Sherrill did not walk in her commencement ceremony at the Naval Academy in 1994 as a punishment connected to a massive cheating scandal involving more than 100 midshipmen.
“FACT: The National Archives provided documents in response to a legitimate and perfectly legal FOIA request,” Russell wrote on X. “Documents, btw, that had NOTHING to do with the cheating scandal. The National Archives then apologized to the requestor and took full responsibility for their error. Now… it’s time for Rep. Sherrill to come clean and authorize release of all of her records.”
In a statement to the New Jersey Globe, Sherrill explained her absence from the ceremony was a result of failing to report classmates involved with the scandal. “I didn’t turn in some of my classmates, so I didn’t walk, 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.”
CNN has reached out to Russell and De Gregorio. The Ciattarelli campaign pointed CNN to Russell’s statement on social media.
Top Democrats on Capitol Hill are calling for investigations into the matter.
“I support a criminal investigation into the unauthorized and illegal release of Mikie Sherrill’s records,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday.
“I am alarmed and outraged by the improper release of Rep. Sherrill’s personal information,” said Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee. “I call on the DoD and NARA to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter and ensure the individuals responsible for this blatant violation of privacy are held accountable.”
This is not the first unauthorized disclosure of lawmakers’ military records. The military records of Republican Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Zach Nunn of Iowa were among 11 individuals’ records released by the Air Force between 2021 and 2022.
On Thursday, Bacon said military records should be better protected.
“My personal military records along with several other GOP AF vets were illegally released to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2022,” Bacon wrote on X. “The behavior was wrong then & it’s wrong now. The military must do better to protect veterans’ privacy.”
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