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New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mikie Sherrill is now making the release of her barely redacted military records a campaign issue, and taking aim at the Trump administration and GOP foe Jack Ciatarelli.
In a new attack ad, the congresswoman accused the Trump administration of illegally divulging her sensitive records and scolded Ciatarelli for not returning them. The new spot comes as a slew of polls that show she has lost significant support in the race — and is potentially in a dead heat with Ciatarelli.
“It’s not just a scandal. It is illegal,” a narrator declared in the spot. “The Trump administration illegally releasing respected Navy helicopter pilot Mikie Sherrill’s private military records to Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign, records containing Mikie’s Social Security number, even her retired parents’ home address.”
“Jack’s campaign distributed her records anyway — breaking the law,” the narrator went on. “They broke the law to attack a veteran. Just think what Jack Ciattarelli might do to you.”
The ad push comes against the backdrop of some recent polls showing a tighter race than previously thought. Sherrill has a 4.7 percentage point edge over Ciattarelli in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polling.
That’s down from the 8.3 percentage point lead she had early last month.
Sherrill narrowly edged out Ciattarelli 48.1% to 45.8% among likely voters, which is within the margin of error, according to the latest poll, released Wednesday by Quantus Insights Poll. A poll released last week showed the candidates in a dead head.
It’s a dramatic dip from the 10-point lead the congresswoman had in a Labor Day surve.
Last week, CBS News reported that it acquired Sherrill’s military file featuring un-redacted details such as her life insurance information, Social Security number, home address, and more.
The National Archives and Records Administration had given those files to political operative Nicholas De Gregorio who made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
In response to questions from CBS News, the National Archives said, “The technician should NOT have released the entire record.”
News of the disclosure coincided with bombshell revelations that Sherrill wasn’t allowed to walk with her classmates during commencement from the Naval Academy in 1994 because of her involvement in the cheating 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,” she told the New Jersey Globe in response to the news.
Sherrill has declined to disclose the disciplinary files that would shed light on what exactly happened.
Allies of Ciattarelli have stressed that the National Archives documents they acquired via a FOIA aren’t connected to the cheating scandal.
“The National Archives provided documents in response to a legitimate and perfectly legal FOIA request,” GOP strategist Chris Russell, who works with the Ciattarelli campaign, said late last month.
“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.”
On Tuesday, the Inspector General for the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration confirmed it began a probe into the release of Sherrill’s sensitive military file.
