On June 30, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) illegally gave New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill’s Social Security number and Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) to former Republican Congressional candidate Nicholas de Gregorio, who is an ally of opposing gubernatorial candidate and Republican, Jack Ciatterelli.
In a September 22 letter, NPRC Director Scott Levins admitted that this activity was illegal activity, as Sherrill’s information was leaked without her consent; it was a violation of the Privacy Act of 1974. While this has been labelled as an “accident,” the NPRC deliberately accessed the necessary system to obtain Sherrill’s Social Security. While de Gregorio requested the information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is legal itself, the information provided to him was beyond the scope of what the FOIA permits.
De Gregorio was far from a neutral party. He was on the shortlist to be Ciatterelli’s running mate, and shared the illegally obtained material with Ciatterelli’s campaign.
While Levins has apologized, the political damage has already been done. Sherrill’s OMPF reveals that she was barred from walking in her commencement ceremony at the Naval Academy in 1994, as she failed to report on others in her class who cheated. However, there is no evidence that Sherrill herself cheated. Regardless, the race has become more about Sherrill than the nefarious means by which the Trump administration and Ciatterelli assassinated her character.
Top Democrats in Congress have called for an investigation of the illegal leak.
This incident spells trouble for the future of free and fair elections in the United States, especially if the federal government can leak any damaging information, including sensitive and protected material, against candidates of the opposing party.
