Ex-prosecutor charged with sending to herself report on Trump classified probe
The U.S. Department of Justice logo is before a news conference, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
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Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
WASHINGTON — A former federal prosecutor in Florida sent to her personal email account a special counsel report from the investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents despite a judge’s order that it was to remain sealed, according to an indictment made public on Wednesday.
Carmen Lineberger, who worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and managed its Fort Pierce branch, faces charges including theft of government property and concealment of government records. She pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in West Palm Beach. Her attorney did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Prosecutors allege that while serving as a Justice Department prosecutor last December, Lineberger sent a copy of the report that special counsel Jack Smith and his team had prepared, recapping their investigation into Trump’s retention of top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, to her personal email account. At the time she did so, the indictment says, a judicial order barred Justice Department employees from sharing, transmitting or distributing copies of the report.
The indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by altering the original file name of the report to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf” before saving the re-titled file on her government computer and emailing it to her personal email account with the subject line of “Bundt_Cake_Recipe,pdf.”
Several months earlier, according to the indictment, Lineberger created on her government computer a document consisting of portions of internal Justice Department messages, along with portions of an internal memorandum with header and footer markings that indicated it was for official use only.
She sent the material to her personal email address via an attached file titled “Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf,” prosecutors say.
The indictment does not explain why Lineberger may have wanted to send the report, which prosecutors say she had access to in her professional capacity as a prosecutor, to her own email account.
The volume detailing Smith’s findings in a criminal investigation once seen as posing significant legal peril to Trump has never been seen by the public. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon sided with Trump’s lawyers, who argued that releasing the report would be unfairly prejudicial after Smith abandoned the case following Trump’s 2024 election victory.
Lineberger worked in the same judicial district where Smith’s case against Trump was filed. That case accused Trump of illegally retaining at the Mar-a-Lago property dozens of classified records from his first term and obstructing government efforts to get them back.
“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,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement posted on X.
Basically the indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by altering the original file name of the report to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf”. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Carmen Lineberger, who worked in the U.S. Meanwhile the indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by altering the original file name of the report to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf”.
In other words the indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by altering the original file name of the report to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf”. Curious to see how this develops.
When you look at the indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by altering the original file name of the report to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf”, the implications are hard to ignore.
In other words the U.S. Department of Justice logo is before a news conference, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Washington. Curious to see how this develops.
Basically the indictment does not explain why Lineberger may have wanted to send the report, which prosecutors say she had access to in her professional capacity as a prosecutor, to her own email account. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Carmen Lineberger has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.
The fact that the U.S. Department of Justice logo is before a news conference, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Washington really puts things into perspective.
What stands out is carmen Lineberger, who worked in the U.S. That is the part worth paying attention to.
The indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by altering the original file name of the report to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf”. Meanwhile she sent the material to her personal email address via an attached file titled “Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf,” prosecutors say.
If the indictment does not explain why Lineberger may have wanted to send the report, which prosecutors say she had access to in her professional capacity as a prosecutor, to her own email account, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Reading that she sent the material to her personal email address via an attached file titled “Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf,” prosecutors say — hard to argue with the logic there.
Think about it: the indictment does not explain why Lineberger may have wanted to send the report, which prosecutors say she had access to in her professional capacity as a prosecutor, to her own email account. That speaks volumes.
Reading that carmen Lineberger, who worked in the U.S — hard to argue with the logic there.
So the bottom line is the indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by altering the original file name of the report to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf”. Wonder how this will land.