Looking More Closely At Mikie Sherrill's Involvement In The Naval Academy Cheating Scandal

Late last month, information leaked that Miki Sherrill, a US congresswoman and candidate for New Jersey governor, had been somehow caught up in the 1994 Naval Academy cheating scandal, which I've discussed here. Her original version as of September 25 was this:

"There was a test at the school that was stolen," Sherrill said. "I did not realize it was stolen. I took the test... afterwards I knew what the rumor mill was... I didn't come forward with that information."

No documents released or obtained by news outlets have shown that Sherrill was involved in the cheating, but because she did not report her classmates, she was not permitted to walk at graduation.

However, on October 9, she appeared to modify this story, indicating that she had in fact spoken to inveatigators:

“There were hundreds of people in my class that spoke to investigators. When I did, I told them what I knew,” she told reporters after her second debate when asked about her explanation.

. . . Sherrill has refused to release her full disciplinary record, which would paint a fuller picture of what happened.

A source who was involved in the Naval Academy’s investigation into the cheating scandal also expressed skepticism about Sherrill’s version of events, saying, “There would have to be more” to the story based on the punishment she received.

But this slight change leaves much more unsaid. This substack essay goes into greater detail about the actual wording of the Naval Academy honor code, the Inspector General's investigation of the cheating, and what it implies about Sherrill's potential violation:

The investigation was complicated and lengthened by the decisions of many midshipmen not to cooperate and even to lie to investigators. It concluded on January 20, 1994, with a 30-page Report of Investigation. The Report notes numerous instances where midshipmen refused to answer questions either because they wanted to protect themselves or because they did not want to “bilge” their classmates by giving truthful answers about the cheating.

. . . The IG’s Report details how some midshipmen lied repeatedly to investigators, even when under oath. Others retained attorneys who advised them to “plead the Fifth” by refusing to answer questions, even after the Academy Superintendent dropped a criminal investigation and granted them immunity from criminal charges. The IG also found “much evidence that midshipmen conspired to conceal their involvement” in the cheating scandal, including efforts “to coordinate and perfect the testimony they would give.”

. . . Sherrill claims that she was disciplined by not being allowed to walk and not being listed in the graduation program because she did not “turn in” classmates who were implicated in cheating. However, as shown below, her story does not ‘hold water.’

An important distinction between the honor systems at the Naval Academy and those at West Point and the Air Force Academy is that the USNA Honor Concept does not contain a non-toleration clause as do the other academies’ Honor Codes. The latter state simply, “A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do.” Under that last clause, a cadet’s failure to turn in another cadet is treated as an honor violation and is punished just as severely as the original violation. But in the absence of such a non-toleration clause, USNA midshipmen are not required to turn in others for honor violations, and USNA does not punish a refusal to do so as a violation of the Honor Concept. And consistent with the lack of a non-toleration clause, midshipmen are not punished for refusing to turn in their classmates.

. . . Given the USNA policy of not punishing midshipmen who refused to inform on others who may have committed honor violations, Sherrill’s repeated story that she was punished for not turning in her classmates cannot be true.

So this makes her September 25 statement that her honor violation was not turning in classmates questionable. But what about her October 9 statement that she did in fact talk to investigators? The substack goes on,

So, we know that Sherrill was disciplined for something related to the theft of the EE 311 exam, but we still do not know what. But we do know that it was not for failing to turn in classmates. Based upon the IG report, however, we cannot rule out that she was “punished for lying to Naval investigators.”

A 1994 classmate of Sherrill's and former Navy officer, Brent Sadler, is quoted in the New York Post story linked above:

He believes that her public admission about not coming forward with information she knew about the cheating scandal sounds like a violation of the honor concept.

Besides expulsion, the way to rectify that is a corrective program known as honor remediation, which includes tasks such as writing papers reflecting on their transgressions.

“Some of the things they had to do that I remember is that they had to write a letter … to the [academy] superintendent [saying ‘I am] very sorry …. I’ve learned my lesson,'” the investigative source recounted of how remediation worked. “Which is really horses—.”

Sherrill has a 254-day gap after graduation, during which she remained at Annapolis.

. . . “It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Sadler said when asked about how Sherrill could’ve been barred from walking and not faced further discipline.

“There was only one group of folks associated with the double E scandal that didn’t graduate … but then got the commission later, and their degree later … and that was for this remediation, this honor code remediation.”

So it sounds as though Sherrill's original explanation for her violation, that she didn't rat on her classmates, is improbable at best. The actual circumstances under which she didn't walk with her classmates to receive her diploma are also unclear; a gap of eight months before she actually received her diploma and commission after the rest of her class isn't mentioned or explained anywhere else, and a reasonable inference would be that her actual violation was much more serious and could only be resolved via a remediation program.

Polling data suggests that Sherrill still leads Republican Ciattarelli in the runup to the election, although her lead is shrinking. It's difficult to say whether the Naval Academy scandal is any part of this effect, since other questions surround her, especially the fact that she and her husband have enriched themselves since her election to congress.