Prosecutor charged with sending herself copy of Smith report on Trump classified files investigation

WASHINGTON – A former federal prosecutor in Miami is facing federal charges over allegations that she sent to her personal email account a report that a judge had ordered to be kept secret detailing Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents, according to court papers unsealed Wednesday.

Carmen Lineberger, who worked in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida and managed its Fort Pierce branch, pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in Palm Beach to charges of theft of government property. Her attorney did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

The indictment accuses her of sending to her personal Hotmail account a copy of the Smith report with a subject line of “chocolate cake recipe.”

The Authorities say she illegally tried to email herself from her government account the volume of Smith’s report about the classified documents prosecution case after a Trump-appointed judge barred its public release.

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 backed arguments from Trump’s lawyers that it would be unfairly prejudicial to release the report after Smith abandoned the case in the aftermath of Trump’s 2024 election victory.

Lineberger worked in the same judicial district where Smith’s documents case against Trump was filed. That case accused Trump of illegally retaining at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach dozens of classified records from his first term in office and obstructing government efforts to get them back.