'Dirty politics at its worst': MAGA gov candidate under fire after doxxing Dem foe

The governor's race in New Jersey was shaken up on Thursday when the Trump administration unlawfully shared protected information about the Democratic nominee, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, from her confidential military academy files to the Republican nominee, Jack Ciattarelli.

The information in question, which Ciattarelli immediately used to attack Sherrill, is that she was not allowed to walk at commencement in connection with a cheating scandal at the Naval Academy — although Sherrill quickly clarified the punishment was not because she herself had cheated, but because she had failed to report some of the cheaters in her class.

"This is an illegal and dangerous weaponization of the federal government," Sherrill, who is seeking to succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, posted to X. "That @Jack4NJ and the Trump admin are breaking the law and exposing private records for political gain is a violation of anyone who has ever served. No veteran's record is safe."

Many other commenters on social media had a similar outraged response.

The liberal veteran activist group VoteVets condemned the leak as well, stating, "Jack Ciattarelli — like Donald Trump — has no respect for Veterans and no regard for our military ... If this can happen to Congresswoman Sherrill, it can happen to any of us."

"This is insane," wrote political podcaster and Army veteran Fred Wellman. "The archives doxxed her and her opponent twisted it. Dirty politics at its worst."

"Archives accidentally released Mikie Sherrill's whole service record and revealed the perhaps-not-entirely-damaging news that she is not a snitch (Sherrill is running for governor of New Jersey)," wrote Nick Baumann of The Washington Post.

"UNREAL: Trump is leaking veterans’ private information to help MAGA's Jack Ciattarelli to win the NJ Gov's race!" wrote talk radio host Dean Obeidallah. "Everybody should be angry about the Trump admin's illegal release of @mikiesherrill’s unredacted military records."

Even a Republican lawmaker, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), chimed in to condemn the leak. "My personal military records along with several other GOP AF vets were illegally released to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2022," he wrote. "The behavior was wrong then & it's wrong now. The military must do better to protect veterans’ privacy."