A former prosecutor from the Justice Department has been charged with emailing confidential records linked to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Donald Trump. Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, who is 62 and from Port St. Lucie, Florida, faces multiple charges. These charges include one felony count of obstruction of justice, one felony count of concealing government records, and two misdemeanor counts of theft of government property.
The indictment, filed in the Southern District of Florida, claims that Lineberger altered file names of government documents to hide unauthorized transmissions to her personal email accounts. At the time, she was the Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney at the Fort Pierce branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida.
Previously, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the public release of the volume of Smith’s report concerning the investigation into classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. The FBI Director, Kash Patel, announced the charges via social media, stating that Lineberger had supported a politicized investigation and had tried to disguise confidential material as dessert recipes in her emails.
Lineberger’s attorney opted not to comment to Fox News Digital. The charges against Trump include accusations of attempting to overturn the 2020 election and improperly keeping classified national defense information. However, this documents case was dismissed after Cannon ruled Smith’s appointment was unlawful.
Prosecutors allege Lineberger used deceptive file names like “chocolate cake recipe” to save government records before sending them to personal email addresses. She reportedly received Smith’s report copy before it was sealed and later emailed it to herself in violation of court orders.
Lineberger has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she could face significant prison time: up to 20 years for obstruction, three years for concealing public records, and up to one year for each theft count.