In yet another damning example of the Biden-era DOJ’s weaponization against President Donald Trump, a former federal prosecutor has been charged with stealing a sealed volume of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the now-defunct classified documents case. Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, 62, was indicted on four counts including theft of government property and removal of public records. She allegedly saved the sensitive document as “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf” on her government computer before emailing it from her DOJ account to her personal Gmail on December 1, 2025.
Lineberger, who served as Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney in Fort Pierce, Florida, violated U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s explicit January 21, 2025 order barring the DOJ from releasing, sharing, or transmitting Volume II of Smith’s report. She appeared in court Wednesday and was released without bond.
This brazen leak is not an isolated incident but the rotten fruit of a corrupt tree. The entire investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago was a political hit job from the start. Judge Cannon rightly dismissed the case in July 2024, ruling Smith’s appointment violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. After Trump’s decisive 2024 victory, the DOJ dropped its appeal, citing policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. Yet the damage was done: years of lawfare designed to cripple Trump’s political return.
The American people deserve full accountability. Every individual involved in these shady investigations — from Jack Smith and his team of partisan prosecutors, to the high-level Biden DOJ officials who greenlit the Mar-a-Lago raid and the classified documents witch hunt, to those who orchestrated parallel lawfare cases — should be charged and investigated. The two-tiered system of justice revealed by Lineberger’s theft demands it. If a former prosecutor can casually smuggle sealed materials, imagine the broader conspiracy of leaks, selective prosecution, and abuse of power that defined the Biden administration’s assault on Trump.
This episode underscores the urgent need for President Trump’s anti-weaponization agenda. The DOJ and FBI were turned into instruments of political persecution. From the Russia hoax to impeachments, the documents case, and hush-money prosecutions, Trump was targeted relentlessly while real threats to national security were ignored. Lineberger’s indictment is a small victory, but real justice requires charging the architects and enablers who spent years trying to imprison a leading political opponent.
The rule of law cannot survive if federal agencies act as arms of one political party. The American people elected Trump to drain the swamp. Prosecuting those responsible for these abuses is essential to restoring public trust and preventing future weaponization. Anything less signals that the deep state remains untouchable.
