Records Released By Military Cause Controversy For Democrat Candidate

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Rachel Stevenson
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Well, well, well… look what just dropped into the middle of New Jersey politics like a depth charge.

Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill — the Naval Academy grad turned self-righteous political reformer — is now scrambling to explain why her military records include details about her refusal to cooperate during the largest cheating scandal in the history of the U.S. Navy. That’s right. The woman who’s made her entire political identity out of waving the flag and touting her military service just got a not-so-flattering spotlight thrown on her time at Annapolis.

And it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Because Sherrill isn’t just coasting to reelection. She’s locked in a dead heat with Republican Jack Ciattarelli for the governor’s seat — and now her biggest talking point, her military integrity, is under serious fire. Her campaign’s go-to biography line — Naval Academy grad, Navy pilot, honor and service — suddenly looks a little more… complicated.

Here’s what we know: The National Archives, in a document dump that’s now sending Democrats into full-blown panic mode, released largely unredacted files showing that in 1994, Sherrill was barred from walking at graduation because she wouldn’t snitch on classmates in a cheating scandal. Sure, the scandal was big — dozens of midshipmen were implicated — but refusing to come forward isn’t exactly the character arc of the accountability heroine she’s made herself out to be.

And now that those records are public?

Cue the meltdown.

Democrats are losing their minds, accusing — wait for it — the Trump administration of orchestrating the whole thing. Hakeem Jeffries wants a criminal investigation. Gavin Newsom is screeching about “rigging” and “cheating.” And Sherrill? She’s calling the release illegal, dangerous, and a threat to every veteran in the country. Because apparently, transparency is a crime now… but covering up a disciplinary history while building a political brand off of military valor? Totally fine.

Funny how the rules change when the spotlight shifts.

But here’s where it gets interesting: The Sherrill campaign insists that these records were sealed. Yet somehow, they landed in the hands of Ciattarelli’s allies, revealing her long-concealed disciplinary mark — and a whole host of personal information including her Social Security number. That detail, of course, sparked outrage — and not unjustifiably. The National Personnel Records Center admitted the release was “inappropriate,” and now everyone’s suddenly concerned about how federal agencies manage sensitive information.

Which is… rich. Because for the last several years, Democrats had zero problem when other sealed records were “leaked” in the name of “accountability” — remember Brett Kavanaugh’s high school calendars? Trump’s tax returns? SCOTUS draft decisions? But now that it’s one of their own? Now it’s a privacy crisis. Now it’s government weaponization. Now it’s time for lawsuits and subpoenas.

Let’s not forget what this really is: political theater with a very inconvenient twist.

Jack Ciattarelli wasted no time leaning in. On X, he pointed out the obvious: Sherrill has “built her entire political brand around her time at the Naval Academy and in the Navy,” while conveniently omitting the fact that she was implicated in an honor code scandal. That’s not a small footnote. That’s the story. And in a race this tight, that revelation hits like a torpedo below the waterline.

Meanwhile, Sherrill’s allies are flailing. They’re trying to turn this into a referendum on Trump, as if that’s still a winning strategy in 2025. But here’s the reality: New Jersey voters now have to ask themselves whether a candidate who hid a black mark on her record for years — and is now shouting “witch hunt” when the truth comes out — is really the best person to lead their state.

And let’s not ignore the bigger picture: If courts rule the release violated federal law, we may be in for a major reckoning on how government agencies handle personal records. But if it turns out this disclosure was legal, or simply the result of procedural failure — well then, the “weaponization” narrative collapses, and Sherrill’s credibility goes down with it.

Either way, one thing’s for sure: the next few weeks in this governor’s race just got a whole lot messier.

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