New Jersey Dem Mikie Sherrill Faces Renewed Scrutiny Over Ethics Complaint, Military Academy Scandal

Democrat Mikie Sherrill, the nominee for New Jersey governor, is facing renewed attention over a past congressional ethics complaint tied to false accusations she made against Republican lawmakers in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The controversy comes as she continues to battle questions about her involvement in a Naval Academy cheating scandal that has followed her throughout her political career.

In January 2021, then-Rep. Sherrill and 33 other Democratic members of Congress signed a letter to the U.S. Capitol Police and the Sergeants at Arms for both chambers, urging investigations into several Republican lawmakers who had given tours of the Capitol complex on Jan. 5, 2021, the day before the riot.

Sherrill and her colleagues suggested that those tours were “suspicious” and could have been part of “reconnaissance” efforts for participants in the following day’s events.

Among those accused was Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who had led a small group of constituents through House office buildings.

The Jan. 6 Committee, controlled by Democrats, opened an investigation into whether Loudermilk had assisted rioters. However, the U.S. Capitol Police later reviewed surveillance footage and concluded that there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

“There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,” the Capitol Police wrote in a statement.

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“We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.”

The footage confirmed Loudermilk’s account that the group consisted of family friends and other visitors.

“Rep. Sherrill made false accusations, without evidence of any wrongdoing, with apparently no thought of the threats to the safety of myself, my family, and others,” Loudermilk said in a statement to Just the News.

“The truth prevailed, which it always does, and the real damage at the end of the day was to her own credibility.”

The false claims prompted Loudermilk and several colleagues to file an ethics complaint against Sherrill and the Democrats who signed her letter.

The complaint accused them of making “false, spurious, and unsubstantiated” allegations that launched an unfounded investigation and fueled public hostility against the Republican members involved.

“The Sherrill letter is not a petty political spat between Republican Members and Rep. Sherrill and her Democratic colleagues,” Loudermilk wrote in his filing. “In fact, the Sherrill letter is a public allegation of a crime.”

Loudermilk revealed that the allegations led to multiple death threats against him and his family. He also said some of the visitors from his tour group faced questioning from federal agents and struggled professionally as a result of being linked to the controversy.

Despite multiple reviews, neither the Capitol Police nor the Jan. 6 Committee found evidence of misconduct by Loudermilk or anyone associated with his tour.

The Capitol Police’s findings directly contradicted the assertions made by Sherrill and the Jan. 6 Committee, which had claimed Loudermilk’s tour could have provided “unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex” to potential rioters.

Those claims have since been widely discredited.

Sherrill’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment regarding the ethics complaint or the Capitol Police findings.

The controversy adds to a string of political challenges for Sherrill as she campaigns for governor of New Jersey. Recent polling indicates a tightening race between Sherrill and Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli, with Ciattarelli closing the gap in the traditionally Democrat-leaning state.

Sherrill is also contending with renewed attention over her time at the U.S. Naval Academy, where a cheating scandal erupted in her graduating class.

While she did not participate in the commencement ceremony that year, Sherrill has claimed that she was disciplined not for cheating but for refusing to report classmates who had violated the academy’s honor code.

Her explanation, however, has shifted over time, leading critics to question her account.

According to The New York Post, Sherrill’s statements about the incident have varied, with new details emerging at odds with earlier descriptions. Though no formal record has confirmed wrongdoing, the controversy continues to overshadow her political campaign.

Between the resurfaced ethics complaint and ongoing questions surrounding her military past, Sherrill faces growing scrutiny as voters weigh issues of integrity and accountability heading into the November election.

Pollsters note that her handling of both controversies could prove decisive in a race that is shaping up to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial contests in the country.