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Washington — In a finding that puts to rest months of partisan suspicion, the inspector general for the National Archives and Records Administration concluded that the improper release of New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s largely unredacted military records during last year’s governor’s race was the result of human error, not political design.
While the disclosure of Sherrill’s personal information raised concerns because of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Freedom of Information Act, investigators for the Archives’ watchdog found that the request submitted to the National Archives had been properly filed. The failure, they concluded, occurred later: an Archives technician released the records in error and did not adhere to established protocol.
Sherrill and other senior Democrats suggested the episode bore the hallmarks of coordination between her Republican opponent and Trump administration allies — a suspicion that lingered during the campaign for New Jersey governor. Sherill ultimately prevailed over Jack Ciattarelli, her GOP opponent.
But the inquiry found there were no political motivations for releasing the records. What emerged instead 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,” said Mark Sheridan of the law firm Squire Patton Boggs, who represents Ciattarelli’s campaign.
A Sherrill spokesperson questioned the probe’s findings in a statement Tuesday.
“The Trump Administration investigated itself and unsurprisingly found no political motivation — a conclusion that has zero credibility,” the spokesperson said. “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 originally began investigating Sherill during the campaign over accusations that she was involved in the 1994 Naval Academy scandal, where more than 100 midshipmen were implicated in cheating on an exam. Sherrill told CBS News that she was not accused of cheating and said her only involvement was not informing on her fellow classmates. She was prevented from walking during her graduation but did graduate and went onto serve in the U.S. Navy.
CBS News obtained the results of the investigation after submitting a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the National Archives earlier this year. The investigation confirms CBS News’ previous 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 last year that the Archives had released Sherrill’s military records to Nicholas De Gregorio, a Ciattarelli ally.
The documents released included Sherrill’s Social Security number, home addresses for her and her parents, life insurance information, Sherrill’s performance evaluations and the nondisclosure agreement between her and the government to safeguard classified information.
CBS News’ report last year ignited a political uproar. Both Sherrill’s and Ciattarellli’s campaigns lobbed legal threats and negative ads at each other for the rest of the race.
Political campaigns, opposition research firms and news organizations often seek the military records of current or former service members running for elected office for both vetting purposes and to better inform voters.
The investigation concluded that the Archives technician assigned to handle the request from Ciattarelli’s associate, De Gregorio, should have notified his supervisor to escalate the request for a higher level of review, since the request for information involved a member of Congress. The name of the Archives technician is redacted because of privacy exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Archives technician admitted the mistake to investigators, saying it was likely “caused by being distracted and not focusing entirely on the task at hand.”
“Based on the gravity of the improper release, on December 16, 2025, supervisory staff proposed the Archives Technician for removal from Federal service for Neglect of Duty,” according to the investigation. The technician, who had worked at the Archives since about 2015, chose to retire rather than face termination.
After the incident, the National Archives said it instituted several practices to ensure “enhanced reliability and accuracy of response for sensitive record and FOIA requests,” according to the investigation. The Archives conducted training and implemented directives to avoid future similar 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,” De Gregorio told CBS News. He added, “I encourage all citizens to utilize FOIA to hold our elected officials accountable.”
