National Archives Inspector General Blames Human Error for Sherrill Military Records Release

A federal inspector general investigation into one of last year's most politically charged controversies concluded that a National Archives technician's failure to follow standard operating procedures, not a coordinated political scheme, caused the improper release of New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill's largely unredacted military records during her 2025 gubernatorial campaign.

Acting Inspector General Will Brown launched a formal investigation on September 30, 2025, following a request from Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. The inquiry found that the FOIA request itself had been properly filed; the failure occurred later, when an Archives technician did not adhere to established standard operating procedures.

The chain of events began in May 2025, when Nicholas De Gregorio, a Marine veteran and former Republican congressional candidate in New Jersey, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Personnel Records Center asking for "all publicly releasable information" on Sherrill's Navy service. The NPRC initially stumbled: on June 11, it sent De Gregorio an email saying it had no records for a veteran named "Sherill," misspelling her name by omitting the second "r." De Gregorio called the agency's customer service line the next day and was routed to a technician. On June 30, the NPRC transmitted Sherrill's records.

De Gregorio said he gave the file to the Ciattarelli campaign but was surprised by what he received. The package contained far more than FOIA rules permit: Sherrill's Social Security number, date of birth, insurance information, home address, her retired parents' address, and detailed performance evaluations. Under standard FOIA rules, the full military file of a service member is not available to the general public until 62 years after they finish their service; third-party requesters are entitled only to certain releasable portions.

The technician, investigators found, should have extracted only those releasable portions before responding. Instead, the comprehensive record went out. Supervisory staff proposed the technician for removal from federal service on December 16, 2025, for Neglect of Duty. The technician, who had worked at the Archives since approximately 2015, chose to retire rather than face termination.

NPRC Director Scott Levins described the breach as "exceedingly rare" and offered Sherrill free credit monitoring services. Levins also sent a letter to Sherrill calling it a "serious error" and apologizing for the agency's "failure to safeguard your military record from unauthorized release."

The disclosure landed inside a fierce gubernatorial race and immediately ignited accusations of political sabotage. Sherrill and senior Democrats alleged coordination between the Ciattarelli campaign and the Trump administration. The political optics were complicated by the fact that the National Archives is currently overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who became acting archivist after President Trump fired the previous archivist in March 2025. Rep. Garcia called the disclosure a "stunning failure" and an "illegal and likely politically motivated disclosure." The IG's findings rejected that theory entirely, attributing the breach solely to procedural neglect.

The Ciattarelli campaign attorney Mark D. Sheridan acknowledged that Republican strategist Chris Russell had asked De Gregorio to look into Sherrill but insisted Russell "did not request that he submit a FOIA request" and denied any conspiracy. The records, whatever the circumstances of their release, showed Sherrill had an unblemished Naval career, including a 1991 medal for saving the life of a fellow classmate at the Naval Academy.

After the incident, the National Archives instituted several new practices to ensure "enhanced reliability and accuracy of response for sensitive record and FOIA requests," conducting staff training and implementing new directives to prevent similar errors in processing personnel records. The agency has not specified whether the reforms include automated redaction controls or additional supervisory review layers before records leave the facility.

Sherrill, a Naval Academy Class of 1994 graduate who served nearly a decade as a Sea King helicopter pilot before becoming a federal prosecutor, won the November 4, 2025 election with approximately 57.2 percent of the vote to Ciattarelli's 42.5 percent, becoming both the first female Democratic governor of New Jersey and the first female veteran elected governor anywhere in the United States. The privacy breach that briefly threatened to define her campaign ultimately surfaced a career the IG's own report confirmed had nothing to hide.