This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8, 2022, FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Department of Justice | AP
A former federal prosecutor has been charged with stealing the sealed volume of the report prepared by then-special counsel Jack Smith about the defunct criminal case against President Donald Trump over his retention of classified government documents after leaving office in January 2021.
Carmen Mercedes Lineberger is accused in a four-count indictment unsealed Wednesday of saving the sealed portion of Smith’s report on her government-issued computer under the file name “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf,” and then emailing the report from her DOJ email account to her personal Gmail account on Dec. 1, 2025.
At the time of the alleged conduct, the 62-year-old Lineberger was managing Assistant U.S. Attorney in Fort Pierce, Fla., according to the indictment in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Lineberger is charged with theft of government property and counts related to the removal and altering of public records in the indictment.
Judge Aileen Cannon on Jan. 21, 2025 issued an order prohibiting the DOJ, as well as its officers and employees, from “releasing, sharing, or transmitting” Volume II of Smith’s report, which was filed in the court.
Lineberger appeared in court in Fort Pierce on Wednesday and was released without having to post bond.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment, as did Lineberger’s attorney, Tama Beth Kudman.
CNBC has requested comment from Lineberger’s criminal defense attorney and from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Cannon in July 2024 dismissed the DOJ’s criminal case against Trump, which had alleged that he retained hundreds of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club residence in Palm Beach, Fla., after the end of his first term, and that he obstructed government efforts to recover the documents.
Cannon ruled that Smith’s appointment to prosecute cases involving Trump violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Smith then appealed that dismissal. But the DOJ dropped that effort after Trump was elected in November 2024 to a second, non-consecutive term in the White House because of a department policy that bars federal prosecutions of sitting presidents.