by WorldTribune Staff, May 21, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
A federal prosecutor who was part of special counsel Jack Smith’s lawfare targeting of President Donald Trump has been indicted for emailing herself copies of classified government records.
The Justice Department announced on Wednesday the indictment of Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a managing assistant U.S. attorney of the Fort Pierce branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, who is accused of stealing the sealed volume of the report prepared by Smith regarding the defunct criminal case against Trump over his alleged retention of classified government documents after the end of his first term.
Lineberger is charged with two counts of theft of government money or property; the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations; and with the concealment, removal or mutilation of public records.
The Justice Department said that, in late 2025, Lineberger altered the electronic file names of government records that she received in her official capacity “to conceal” her unauthorized electronic transmission of the records to personal email accounts belonging to her “without being detected.”
Lineberger disguised the emails as cake recipes, the Justice Department said.
According to the indictment, the altered government records included a document that included parts of internal DOJ electronic messages, an internal DOJ memorandum and a DOJ report related to a criminal prosecution that had been court-ordered to remain under seal and prohibited from distribution or disclosure outside of the department.
Lineberger allegedly attempted to conceal her actions by saving electronic copies of the government records in question under misleading file names such as “chocolate cake recipe” and “Bundt cake recipe” before emailing the documents to her personal email accounts.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the classified documents element of Smith’s special counsel investigation of Trump, ruled in February 2026 that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and all DOJ officials and employees were barred from releasing, transmitting, or sharing Smith’s report on Trump regarding the classified documents.
The DOJ said Lineberger was aware “that her transmission of the record outside DOJ directly violated the court order.”
The DOJ said Wednesday that, if convicted, Lineberger faces up to 20 years of imprisonment for “destruction, alteration, or falsification of records” in federal investigations, up to three years behind bars for “concealment, removal, or mutilation” of public records, and up to one year in prison “on each count of theft of government property.”
“This afternoon, a former managing assistant U.S. Attorney who supported Jack Smith’s politicized investigation of President Trump has been charged with stealing the confidential investigation documents,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Wednesday afternoon X post. “This FBI will not hesitate to bring to account those who violated the trust of the American public in an investigation that should’ve never been brought to begin with.”
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