News - Former Prosecutor Accused of Stealing Classified Trump Case Report

Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a former federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida, has been indicted for allegedly attempting to remove a sealed report from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Donald Trump's classified documents case. Reports indicate Lineberger emailed the sensitive document to her personal account, masking it as a 'Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf'. The report is crucial to Smith's probe into Trump's retention of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago. The indictment explicitly accuses Lineberger of theft of government property and concealment of records, although it remains unclear why she sought the document. Trump was originally charged in 2023 for improper handling of classified documents, a case dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon in 2024. Despite the dismissal, the document outweighed its role as a mere internal memo, containing vital links to Trump's controversial case. The report is kept sealed to prevent any potential bias against Trump and insiders. Lineberger's actions now place her in the unusual position of defending herself from charges connected to a case against a former president. The Justice Department has yet to assert that Lineberger leaked the report further afield.