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Former prosecutor allegedly emailed herself Jack Smith classified report under fake cake recipe names

May 21, 2026 | | Print Article

A former federal prosecutor has been indicted by the Trump administration for reportedly emailing herself confidential Department of Justice (DOJ) records.

Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a former managing assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida, allegedly emailed herself key files from former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report on President Donald Trump, according to Fox News.

She originally got away with it by disguising the files as cake recipes.

“Prosecutors alleged Lineberger concealed her actions by saving electronic copies of government records under misleading file names, including ‘chocolate cake recipe’ and ‘bundt cake recipe,’ before sending them to personal Hotmail accounts,” Fox News notes.

The files she targeted pertained specifically to Smith’s investigation into President Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified national security documents.

In December, Smith testified to Congress that his office had “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump … willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January of 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom,” and that Trump also “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”

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The files containing the “proof” were plucked from Volume II of Smith’s final report, which federal Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the release of last year. Note that Cannon issued the blocking order on Volume II after Lineberger had already received her own copy of the full report.

Lineberger was officially indicted on Tuesday on counts of obstruction, concealment, and theft.

“[She] pleaded not guilty during a federal court appearance Wednesday,” Fox News notes. “If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction charge, three years for concealment or removal of public records, and up to one year on each theft count.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a tweet that under his leadership, the “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.”

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As for the president, he pleaded not guilty to 40 counts of retaining classified information, obstruction of justice, and false statements in 2023.

Judge Cannon later outright dismissed Smith’s case altogether the following year on the grounds that the special counsel hadn’t been properly appointed to his post.

“The bottom line is this: The Appointments Clause is a critical constitutional restriction stemming from the separation of powers, and it gives to Congress a considered role in determining the propriety of vesting appointment power for inferior officers,” she said.

“The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers,” she added.

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Regarding the Volume II report, several groups have reportedly sued for access to it, including the Media Freedom and Information Access (MFIA) Clinic at Yale Law School.

The group filed an amicus brief in March on behalf of “a group of First Amendment scholars urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to unseal parts of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report,” according to Yale Law School.

Vivek Saxena
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