DOJ charges prosecutor with attempting to steal report on Trump's classified docs case [View all]

Source: ABC News

DOJ charges prosecutor with attempting to steal report on Trump's classified docs case

The report has remained secret since it was sealed by a judge last year.

By Alexander Mallin, Katherine Faulders, and Peter Charalambous
May 20, 2026, 1:51 PM

The Department of Justice on Wednesday charged a longtime federal prosecutor with attempting to steal a sealed report prepared by then-special counsel Jack Smith on President Donald Trump's alleged retention of classified documents.

A grand jury indicted Carmen Mercedes Lineberger -- a managing assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Pierce, Florida -- with four felony counts for allegedly attempting to steal the report, which has been sealed from public view for more than a year.

Prosecutors allege that Lineberger downloaded a copy of the sealed report onto her work computer and sent it to her personal email account in January of 2025. ... According to the indictment, Lineberger renamed the report "Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf" before attaching it to an email from her DOJ account to her personal Gmail account.

The report has remained secret since January 2025, when it was prepared by Smith in the final days before Trump's inauguration to summarize Trump's alleged crimes. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ordered the report be kept secret after a push from Trump's lawyers to seal the records, and the Department of Justice under the Trump administration has since fought to ensure the report is never released.

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Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/doj-charges-prosecutor-attempting-steal-report-trumps-classified/story?id=133153407

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Sen. Lemon Gogurt
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"Oh brother."

5. On or about September 22, 2025, LINEBERGER created an electronic document on her government-issued computer consisting of portiions of internal DOJ electronic messages LINEBERGER had received on her DOJ email account as well as portions of an internal DOJ memorandum containing header and footer markings "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY - INTERNAL DOJ USE ONLY" and saved the compiled document with the file name "Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf"
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‪Quinta Jurecic‬
‪@qjurecic.bsky.social‬
· 47m

I am somewhat puzzled by this indictment. One of the charges is under 18 USC 1519, an obstruction statute. But what is being obstructed? https://abcnews.com/US/doj-charges-prosecutor-attempting-steal-report-trumps-classified/story?id133153407

DOJ charges prosecutor with attempting to steal report on Trump's classified docs case
The DOJ has charged a federal prosecutor with trying to steal special counsel Jack Smith's sealed report on President Trump's alleged retention of classified documents.
abcnews.com
3:16 PM · May 20, 2026
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"Oh brother."

— Sen. Lemon Gogurt (@ugarles.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T19:16:44.416Z

******
Quinta Jurecic
‪@qjurecic.bsky.social‬

I am somewhat puzzled by this indictment. One of the charges is under 18 USC 1519, an obstruction statute. But what is being obstructed? https://abcnews.com/US/doj-charges-prosecutor-attempting-steal-report-trumps-classified/story?id133153407

DOJ charges prosecutor with attempting to steal report on Trump's classified docs case
The DOJ has charged a federal prosecutor with trying to steal special counsel Jack Smith's sealed report on President Trump's alleged retention of classified documents.
abcnews.com
3:01 PM · May 20, 2026
******

I am somewhat puzzled by this indictment. One of the charges is under 18 USC 1519, an obstruction statute. But what is being obstructed? abcnews.com/US/doj-charg...

— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T19:01:29.038Z

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Quinta Jurecic
‪@qjurecic.bsky.social‬

indictment: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.714764/gov.uscourts.flsd.714764.3.0_1.pdf
3:02 PM · May 20, 2026
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indictment: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T19:02:05.919Z