Archives released too much of Mikie Sherrill's military record to her opponent in the New Jersey governor's race

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-archives-mikie-sherrill-military-record-jack-ciattarelli/

Washington — A branch of the National Archives released a mostly unredacted version of Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill's military records to Nicholas De Gregorio, an ally of Jack Ciattarelli, her GOP opponent in the New Jersey governor's race. The disclosure potentially violates the Privacy Act of 1974 and exemptions established under the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents, which were also obtained by CBS News, appear to show that the National Personnel Records Center, a wing of the National Archives and Records Administration charged with maintaining personnel records for service members and civil servants of the U.S. government, released Sherrill's full military file — almost completely unredacted. CBS News discovered the egregious blunder while investigating whether Sherrill was involved in the 1994 Naval Academy scandal, in which more than 100 midshipmen were implicated in cheating on an exam. Sherrill was not accused of cheating and said her only involvement was not informing on her fellow classmates.

The documents included Sherrill's Social Security number, which appears on almost every page, home addresses for her and her parents, life insurance information, Sherrill's performance evaluations and the nondisclosure agreement between her and the U.S. government to safeguard classified information.

The only details redacted in the document are the Social Security numbers of her former superiors. The files appear to be the same ones Sherrill requested in August 2017 from the National Personnel Records Center, or NPRC, according to a signature verification page in the documents. Contacted by CBS News, the NPRC told CBS News that a technician did not follow standard operating procedures for releasing records, and should only have released portions eligible under FOIA rules.

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