The Daily Fuckup

A former federal prosecutor in Florida has been indicted on charges that she took government records from her work account, renamed them to hide what they were, and forwarded them to personal email addresses. The Justice Department says the records included a special counsel report tied to Jack Smith’s classified-documents investigation into Donald Trump and a separate file assembled from internal DOJ messages and an internal memorandum. Prosecutors say the files were disguised as “chocolate cake recipe” and “bundt cake recipe” before they were sent out. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-doj-attorney-indicted-concealment-theft-government-records?utm_source=openai))

The defendant, Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, 62, of Port St. Lucie, was indicted May 20, 2026, in the Northern District of Florida. The indictment charges her with theft of government property, destruction or falsification of records in a federal investigation, and concealment, removal or mutilation of public records. The Justice Department says she was serving as the managing assistant U.S. attorney in the Fort Pierce branch of the Southern District of Florida when the conduct occurred in separate incidents in late 2025. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-doj-attorney-indicted-concealment-theft-government-records?utm_source=openai))

According to the indictment, one of the records was a DOJ report related to a criminal prosecution in the Southern District of Florida that had been ordered kept under seal and barred from distribution or disclosure outside the department. Prosecutors say Lineberger knew that sending that report outside DOJ violated the court order and interfered with the underlying prosecution. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-doj-attorney-indicted-concealment-theft-government-records?utm_source=openai))

The other record was a document Lineberger compiled herself from portions of internal DOJ electronic messages and an internal memorandum marked for official use only, prosecutors say. That file was allegedly saved under a fake recipe name before being emailed to her personal account. A public court filing says Lineberger appeared for arraignment in West Palm Beach and pleaded not guilty. Under the law, the indictment is only an accusation, and she is presumed innocent unless the government proves the case in court. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-doj-attorney-indicted-concealment-theft-government-records?utm_source=openai))