Sherrill calls Ciattarelli navy data probe a ‘witch hunt’ in NJ race

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New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill claims that her Republican rival Jack Ciattarelli is happening a "witch hunt" over her improperly launched navy data, which raised questions on her potential involvement in a dishonest scandal that rocked the U.S. Naval Academy three a long time in the past.

"He has been caught together with his hand within the cookie jar, if you'll. He is now making an attempt to divert from that," Sherrill advised reporters on Tuesday following a marketing campaign occasion in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey.

The flamable poll field battle in New Jersey , which is one in every of solely two elections for governor throughout the nation this 12 months, was rocked final week after a New Jersey Globe report revealed that Sherrill's navy data indicated that the US Naval Academy blocked her from participating in her 1994 commencement amid the dishonest scandal.

Ciattarelli and his marketing campaign are calling on Sherrill, who went on to pilot helicopters throughout her navy profession after graduating from the Naval Academy, to launch her navy data to clarify why she was prevented from attending her commencement ceremony.

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Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli, left, shakes fingers with Democratic candidate for governor Mikie Sherrill, proper, earlier than a debate on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, N.J. (Noah Okay. Murray/AP Picture)

"What we discovered as we speak is that she was a part of it not directly, form or type. Come clear, launch the data. Inform us what's in your disciplinary data. I feel the folks of New Jersey deserve that," Ciattarelli stated Thursday evening in an interview on Fox News' "Hannity."

However a separate report from CBS Information revealed that the Nationwide Personnel Data Heart, which is a department of the Nationwide Archives and Data Administration, mistakenly launched Sherrill's improperly redacted navy personnel information, which included personal info like her Social Safety quantity, to a Ciattarelli ally.

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The information spurred calls by high Democrats throughout the nation for an investigation.

"To have a man I am operating towards, it should cease at nothing, it should cease at nothing, who will illegally get hold of data. It is simply past the pale," Sherrill, who served as a federal prosecutor earlier than profitable election to Congress, charged Thursday evening on the marketing campaign path in Plainfield, New Jersey.

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/672/378/mikie-sherrill-sept.-21-2025-lawrenceville-new-jersey.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1344/756/mikie-sherrill-sept.-21-2025-lawrenceville-new-jersey.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/931/523/mikie-sherrill-sept.-21-2025-lawrenceville-new-jersey.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1862/1046/mikie-sherrill-sept.-21-2025-lawrenceville-new-jersey.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey responds to questions throughout the first common election debate with Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, N.J. (Noah Okay. Murray/AP Picture)

The Nationwide Archives, in a letter final week, apologized to Sherrill, saying the improper launch was attributable to a authorities employee's error over a authorized data request.

Following the breach of the data, Sherrill's marketing campaign despatched cease-and-desist letters to the Nationwide Archives and to Ciattarelli's marketing campaign, in addition to to Ciattarelli's high strategist, Chris Russell and Nicholas De Gregorio, who's described by Sherrill’s staff as "an agent of the marketing campaign working on the path of" Russell.

On Tuesday, Sherrill reiterated that "Ciattarelli's marketing campaign has been requested legally to return these data."

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Ciattarelli's marketing campaign, in a letter Friday, pushed again on the claims by the Sherrill marketing campaign and high Democrats that stress from President Donald Trump's administration and Republicans could have been behind the errant doc launch.

The Ciattarelli marketing campaign charged that Sherrill "tried to distract consideration away from that truth with false accusations and half-truths about what quantities to a clerical error by the Nationwide Archives which they took duty for and apologized for publicly."

On Tuesday, responding to Sherrill's feedback, Russell advised Fox Information Digital that "calling it a witch hunt is absurd. That is about attending to the underside of what she did or didn’t do on the academy that earned her an extremely extreme punishment."

And Ciattarelli's high strategist argued that "her story that she simply didn’t rat out some mates is probably going a bunch of bull, and he or she is aware of and we wish to know precisely what she advised investigators. Did she mislead them? And what number of instances did she mislead them? And the one approach we’re going to ever determine what occurred is [if] she releases these data."

Sherrill, who was by no means accused of dishonest within the scandal, stated final week that "there was a take a look at on the faculty that was stolen. I didn't notice that it was stolen. I took the take a look at afterwards. I knew what the rumor mill was. I knew individuals who had been implicated in it."

"I did not come ahead with that info, and when requested, I gave all the data I had, however as I discussed, I come from an extremely accountable place, so I did not stroll," she added. "And like I stated, I am pleased to be accountable to all of you and to be clear."

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Requested by reporters on Tuesday why she would not launch the data, Sherrill stated, "I feel the explanation I have not launched them publicly, they present many medals and commendations. So, I feel my historical past."

"They present my commencement from the Naval Academy, they present my commissioning, they present my service medals, they present the report of service that I've," she added.

And pointing to Ciattarelli, she charged that "as an alternative of returning the data that he illegally obtained, and that the archives, via the Trump administration, illegally launched, he's making an attempt to go on another witch hunt, and I am definitely not going to permit him to rampage via the data of my classmates from the Naval Academy."

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/343/192/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/686/384/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/672/378/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1344/756/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/931/523/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1862/1046/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/720/405/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1440/810/jack-ciattarelli-fox-news-interview-fort-lee-new-jersey-sept.-24-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli of New Jersey sits for a Fox Information Digital interview on Sept. 24, 2025, in Fort Lee, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser - Fox Information)

The accusations from either side come as the newest public opinion polls point out a really shut contest in blue-leaning New Jersey within the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

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New Jersey and Virginia are the one two states that maintain statewide elections for governor the 12 months after a presidential election, and the contests historically seize outsized nationwide consideration.

And this 12 months's poll field showdowns within the two states are seen as essential early assessments of the president's reputation and agenda, and key barometers forward of subsequent 12 months's midterm elections for the Home and Senate.

Fox Information' Courtney De George contributed to this report

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter primarily based within the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the marketing campaign path from coast to coast."