May 20 - Federal prosecutors have charged a former Department of Justice attorney with unlawfully transmitting an unreleased volume of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report that pertains to the now-dismissed criminal prosecution alleging that former President Trump retained classified documents after his first term.
The indictment, unsealed on Wednesday, names Carmen Lineberger, a former managing assistant U.S. attorney in the Fort Pierce branch of the Southern District of Florida, as the defendant. Lineberger appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach on Wednesday and entered a not guilty plea to counts charging theft and concealment of government records.
Her counsel did not immediately provide a response to an inquiry about the charges.
Case context
The volume at issue was part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's final report on whether to pursue charges in the investigation that alleged former President Trump stored classified material related to national defense - including material tied to the American nuclear program - at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructed efforts by U.S. authorities to recover that material. The indictment reiterates facts tied to that investigation and notes that the underlying criminal indictment in that matter was dismissed in 2024 by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon concluded the special counsel had not been lawfully appointed by the Justice Department during the Biden administration.
Special counsels are required to prepare reports to the U.S. attorney general explaining their charging decisions. According to the indictment, Judge Cannon subsequently barred disclosure of the portion of Smith's report that concerned the classified documents case.
Allegations in the indictment
The indictment says Lineberger received a copy of the sealed volume last year, prior to Cannon's ruling, while serving in her managerial role in the Fort Pierce office. Prosecutors allege that on two occasions in late 2025 she emailed a file containing that volume to her personal email account.
To conceal those transmissions, the indictment states, Lineberger saved the records under innocuous file names: "Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf" and "Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf." The charging document does not include any allegations about what, if anything, she did with the files after sending them to herself.
Legal posture and open questions
Lineberger has pleaded not guilty and is now facing a federal criminal process over the accused theft and concealment of government records. The indictment provides specific allegations about how the files were copied and labeled, but it does not address subsequent handling or dissemination of the material. The limited scope of the public allegations leaves open factual questions that may be addressed in the course of the prosecution.
Proceedings are pending in federal court in West Palm Beach.