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Ex-DoJ prosecutor charged with sending sealed Jack Smith Trump report to personal email
TL;DR
A former DOJ prosecutor, Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, has been charged with felony theft for emailing herself a sealed investigative report on Donald Trump and disguising it as a cake recipe. She faces two counts related to theft and document alteration.
Key points
- Carmen Mercedes Lineberger is a former DOJ prosecutor.
- She faces felony charges for emailing a sealed report to herself.
- The report was related to a federal criminal investigation of Donald Trump.
- Lineberger disguised the document as a cake recipe.
- The indictment includes charges of theft and document alteration.
Mentioned in this story
Carmen Mercedes LinebergerDepartment of JusticeDonald TrumpFlorida
US district court for the southern district of Florida
A former Department of Justice prosecutor is facing felony charges after emailing herself a sealed Biden-era investigative report concerning Donald Trump and attempting to hide the documents as cake recipes, federal authorities said on Wednesday.
Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, who worked as a managing assistant US attorney in Florida, is facing two counts of theft of government money or property in addition to charges related to her alleged alteration of the documents, according to the indictment.
In early 2025, Lineberger received a copy of an internal report “related to a pending federal criminal investigation”, which she would later send from her DoJ inbox to her personal email in December 2025, according to the indictment. The report was filed in the US district court for the southern district of Florida, where she was employed.
Lineberger allegedly sought to hide evidence of the document by changing its name to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf” before saving it to her government-issued computer, prosecutors said.
The indictment did not offer further details about the nature of the report, but it did characterize the document as being blocked from public release, per an order from US district judge Aileen M Cannon.
Cannon, who Trump has previously lauded as a “model of what a judge should be”, barred the former DoJ special counsel Jack Smith from discussing or sharing any findings from his investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of White House documents at the end of his first term.
Smith also led an investigation into Trump’s alleged plot to obstruct the 2020 election. Both cases were dropped after Trump secured a second term. Justice department policy protects sitting presidents from criminal prosecution.
In a January court filing, federal prosecutors condemned Smith’s report. “The illicit product of an unlawful investigation and prosecution belongs in the dustbin of history,” they said.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups have sought to unseal the report through court appeals.
It’s unclear why Lineberger sent the report to herself. She faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
Q&A
What charges is Carmen Mercedes Lineberger facing?
Carmen Mercedes Lineberger is facing felony charges for theft of government property and altering documents.
What was the nature of the report Lineberger emailed to herself?
The report was a sealed Biden-era investigative document related to a pending federal criminal investigation concerning Donald Trump.
How did Lineberger attempt to conceal the report?
Lineberger attempted to conceal the report by renaming it to 'Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf' before saving it to her government-issued computer.
