Indictment of Former U.S. Attorney for Theft of Investigative Documents

The FBI Director, Kash Patel, has announced that a former U.S. Attorney from the Department of Justice has been indicted on charges related to the theft of “confidential investigative documents.” These documents pertain to the investigation into President Donald Trump led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith.

In a post on X, Patel shared that Carmen Lineberger, 62, reportedly “emailed confidential materials to her personal email address,” disguising them as “dessert recipes” to evade records searches.

“This afternoon, the former chief assistant U.S. attorney involved in Jack Smith’s politically charged investigation into President Trump was indicted for stealing classified documents. Lineberger allegedly concealed the classified information as a dessert recipe to avoid detection and sent it to her personal email,” Patel stated. Lineberger faces four felony charges in the indictment.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, Lineberger had previously provided services as the Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the Fort Pierce Branch of the Southern District of Florida. She is now indicted on multiple counts, including theft of government property under $1,000 and the alteration of records in a federal investigation.

The indictment claims that during her tenure, Lineberger tampered with the electronic file names of government documents on multiple occasions in late 2025, altering them to evade oversight.

The indictment further clarifies that at the time of her alleged crimes, Lineberger was serving as an Assistant United States Attorney. It details how she changed the file names of government records she received in her official role and illicitly forwarded these records to her personal email without being detected. The altered documents allegedly included internal DOJ communications and reports related to criminal prosecutions that were sealed by court order, thereby prohibiting their unauthorized distribution.

Reportedly, Lineberger stored these documents under misleading names like “Chocolate Cake Recipe” and “Bundt Cake Recipe” before emailing them. It is claimed that she knowingly violated court orders by transmitting these records outside the DOJ, undermining the integrity of the ongoing criminal prosecution.

Patel emphasized in his post that “the FBI will not hesitate to hold accountable those who betrayed the trust of the American people in an investigation that should never have been initiated in the first place.”

Additionally, reports indicate that Lineberger faces two felonies concerning Mr. Smith’s management of Volume 2 of his final report, which details findings on the mishandling of national security documents by Mr. Trump and two associates in 2021.