A former United States Department of Justice prosecutor has been charged with illegally removing and concealing a sealed report connected to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump.
Federal prosecutors say Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a former managing assistant US attorney in Florida, secretly emailed herself confidential Justice Department documents related to Smith’s classified-documents investigation into Trump.
According to court filings, Lineberger allegedly disguised the files by renaming them as “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf” and “Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf” before sending them to her personal email account in December 2025. Prosecutors say the documents included a sealed portion of Smith’s final report that had been barred from public release by US District Judge Aileen Cannon.
The unreleased report related to Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. That case had originally led to dozens of felony charges against Trump before Judge Cannon dismissed it in 2024, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful.
Lineberger has been charged with theft of government property, concealment of records and falsification of federal documents. She pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance in Florida and was released pending trial. If convicted, she could face up to 25 years in prison.
The Justice Department said the sealed report remained subject to court restrictions and was not authorised for public dissemination. Prosecutors also allege Lineberger attempted to conceal the transfer to avoid detection in government record systems.
Smith, who served as special counsel from 2022 until early 2025, led two major federal investigations into Trump — one involving efforts to overturn the 2020 election and another concerning classified documents retained after leaving office.
