Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a former federal prosecutor in Florida, has been charged with sending a sealed special counsel report on President Donald Trump's classified documents case to her personal email account. According to an indictment made public on Wednesday, Lineberger faces charges including theft of government property and concealment of government records.
Key Takeaways
A former federal prosecutor has been charged with sending a sealed report on President Donald Trump's classified documents case to her personal email account. Carmen Lineberger faces charges including theft of government property and concealment of government records.
- Former DOJ prosecutor Carmen Lineberger charged with stealing confidential Jack Smith investigation documents
- Lineberger allegedly sent the report to herself under file names like 'Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf'
- The report was part of a criminal case against Trump that was later dismissed
- Lineberger pleaded not guilty during her court appearance
Lineberger worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and managed its Fort Pierce branch. The indictment alleges that while serving as a Justice Department prosecutor last December, she sent a copy of the report prepared by special counsel Jack Smith to her personal email account. She is accused of altering the original file name of the report to 'Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf' before saving it on her government computer and emailing it to herself.
The sealed volume detailing Smith's findings in a criminal investigation into Trump's retention of top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate has never been seen by the public. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon sided with Trump's lawyers, who argued that releasing the report would be unfairly prejudicial after Smith abandoned the case following Trump's 2024 election victory.
Lineberger pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in West Palm Beach. Her attorney did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The indictment does not explain why Lineberger may have wanted to send the report, which prosecutors say she had access to in her professional capacity as a prosecutor, to her own email account.
According to CBS News and Fox News, Lineberger was also accused of downloading portions of an internal Justice Department memorandum and emailing it to herself in September 2025. Those records were allegedly saved under the file name 'Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf'. The indictment contains no allegations concerning what, if anything, Lineberger did with the documents after emailing them to herself.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the charges in a post on X, stating that the FBI will not hesitate to bring to account those who violated the trust of the American public. The case against Trump was dismissed by Cannon, who ruled Smith had been unlawfully appointed as special counsel.
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