A senior Justice Department prosecutor was charged Wednesday with sending herself a copy of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on President Trump, defying court orders that the document be kept under tight control.
Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, who managed the U.S. attorney’s office branch in Fort Pierce, Florida, emailed the report to herself, using a fake computer file name to make it look like she was sharing a cake recipe, the government said.
She was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of theft of government property, one charge of destruction or falsification of government records and one count of concealment or removal of public records.
The document, dubbed the “Volume II Report,” contains his argument for why Mr. Trump deserved to be charged with mishandling classified documents kept at Mar-a-Lago, his resort home.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has permanently blocked the release.
She also tossed the charges against Mr. Trump, finding that Mr. Smith was improperly appointed special counsel.
Mr. Smith was appealing her ruling until Mr. Trump won the 2024 election, causing the dropping of both the Florida case and another in Washington involving charges stemming from the 2020 election.
