NEWARK - State Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32) of Jersey City and other military veterans this morning fought back against what they cited as another example of the illegal hijacking of Donald Trump's federal government by terrified bootlickers, vassals, and lackeys to intimidate a political foe, in this case, U.S. Navy veteran Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for New Jersey Governor.

And tear down and ransack the foundations of the country in the process.

"If no veteran's records are safe, no citizen's liberties are safe," Mukherji said in Veterans Memorial Park at an event organized by the Democratic State Committee. "We should all be outraged. ...We should all stand up for Mikie Sherrill because that's what is at stake here."

By way of background from Fox News:

The National Archives apologized to Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill after the National Personnel Records Center released her military records, including sensitive information like her social security number, to "unauthorized requester" Nicholas De Gregorio.

CBS News referred to De Gregorio as an ally of Republican Garden State gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who is currently vying against Sherrill for the governorship. 

De Gregorio told the outlet that Chris Russell, a GOP consultant in New Jersey, asked him to see what he could uncover about the Democratic lawmaker. He also indicated to the outlet that the Republican candidate's campaign did not hire or encourage him to access the materials.

READ THE SHERRILL CAMPAIGN RESPONSE TO THE EPISODE HERE.

Today, flanked by Essex County Register the Honorable Juan Rivera (U.S. Marines), and former Essex Commissioner John Sharpe James (Iraq War combat vet), Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin, a retired U.S. Air Force captain, said:

"What we see is intimidation: using government as a weapon to silence and intimidate those who would speak out against this president. What we see is Jack Ciattarelli as a lapdog to the president; being quiet. We need to be worried as New Jerseyans, as veterans.

"Respect us. Respect our records. Respect our service."

Michael Embrich of Bayonne, a U.S. Navy veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, said, "Mikie has always been a great shipmate for all of us and that's why we're here today. I did countless records requests from the National Archives and i gotta tell you: they put me through hell every time."

They didn't put De Gregorio through hell, whose extractions from the archives simply showed that Sherrill didn't rat out fellow Annapolis graduates who cheated on an exam, and suffered the school's consequences of not walking in our graduation ceremony.

Chair of the state senate military veterans committee and a U.S. Marine sergeant, Mukherji said he has worked with "countless New Jersey veterans." This case demonstrates that "none of their records are safe. The sacrosanct confidentiality of all veterans' records are what we are talking about today. They weaponized the justice department to go after [Former FBI] Director [James] Comey this week, and now we see the weaponization of the confidential military records of a sitting United States Congresswoman for political gain - someone who served with distinction.

"This is crazy," the senator added.

Mukherkji sees the tactic backfiring on Ciattarelli.

"She will win decisively," he said. "The people of New Jersey will see this weaponization of government for what it is. ...It is alarming. It is distressing to every veteran in New Jersey who has served in uniform. It's interesting too that this kind of swift boating comes from people who never served a day in uniform."

The Ciattarelli Campaign in statement yesterday doubled down, demanding from Sherrill that she release her records.

From the Republican's campaign:

"Today's admission by Congresswoman Sherrill that she was implicated in, and punished for, her involvement in the largest cheating and honor code scandal in the history of the United States Navy is both stunning and deeply disturbing.

"For eight years, Mikie Sherrill has built her entire political brand around her time at the Naval Academy and in the Navy, all the while concealing her involvement in the scandal and her punishment. The people of New Jersey deserve complete and total transparency."

MORE ON THE SUBJECT FROM CIATTARELLI HERE.

Mukherji objected.

"Why should she release her confidential records? They're nonpublic. It's her right to speak about it. But laws were broken [in the release of unredacted information]. It was illegal what transpired here."

Added Martin: "The persistent pattern of weaponization by a bureau of the U.S. government - [Jimmy] Kimmel, Comey - this is one more instance, and Jack Ciattarelli chose as Donald Trump's lapdog to be quiet."