A federal grand jury in South Florida has indicted Carmen Lineberger, formerly the Managing Assistant United States Attorney in Fort Pierce, on four felony charges.
The indictment claims that in late 2025, Lineberger altered the electronic file names of government records she accessed as part of her official duties. She then sent these records to her personal email accounts, including Hotmail and Gmail, without authorization.
The manipulated documents included a compilation of internal Department of Justice (DOJ) communications, a DOJ memorandum, and a sealed report regarding a criminal prosecution in South Florida that had been ordered to remain confidential.
According to the indictment, Lineberger saved these records under deceptive titles such as “Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf” and “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf” before emailing them from her DOJ account to her personal addresses. Some of these transmissions occurred in September 2025 and again on December 1, 2025.
Prosecutors assert that concerning the DOJ report—identified as Volume II of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified materials—Lineberger knowingly transmitted this information in violation of a court order, jeopardizing the integrity of the ongoing prosecution.
The records are connected to Smith’s investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, where Lineberger’s office provided support prior to Smith’s involvement and during events such as the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.
While Lineberger was not a direct member of Smith’s special counsel team, she held a supervisory role in her office and had access to relevant materials.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon had previously sealed the report on January 21, 2025. After Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, Smith withdrew from the case, and the judge barred public disclosure, citing concerns of potential bias. The sealed material continues to be inaccessible.
Lineberger appeared in a federal court in West Palm Beach before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge William Matthewman, entering a not guilty plea and being released on recognizance. Her attorney has not provided detailed public comments regarding the charges.
If found guilty, she could face significant prison time, including up to 20 years for tampering with records in a federal investigation, as well as additional years for theft and other related offenses.
