A former federal prosecutor faces federal charges over allegations that she sent a report detailing Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents to her personal email account, despite a judge’s order…
Washington– A former federal prosecutor in Florida sent her personal email account a special counsel’s report on the investigation into President Donald Trump Hoarding confidential documents Despite a judge’s order to keep it sealed, according to the indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Carmen Leinberger, who worked in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and ran its branch in Fort Pierce, faces charges including theft of government property and concealment of government records. She pleaded not guilty during her court appearance in West Palm Beach. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Prosecutors allege that while serving as a Justice Department prosecutor last December, Leinberger sent a copy of the report that… Special Counsel Jack Smith His team had prepared a summary of their investigation into Trump keeping top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, to her personal email account.
The indictment alleges that Lineberger sought to conceal her actions by changing the name of the report’s original file to “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf” before saving the renamed file on her government computer and emailing it to her personal email account.
Several months earlier, according to the indictment, Leinberger created on her computer a document consisting of portions of internal Justice Department messages, along with portions of an internal memo with header and footer markings indicating it was for official use only. Prosecutors say she sent the material to her personal email address via an attached file titled “chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf.”
The indictment does not explain why Leinberger wanted the report, which prosecutors say she had access to in her professional capacity as a prosecutor, to her private email account.
The volume detailing Smith’s findings in a criminal investigation that was once viewed as posing a significant legal risk to Trump was unprecedented by the public. US District Judge Eileen Cannon sided with Trump’s lawyers, who argued that publishing the report would be unfairly prejudicial after… Smith dropped the next case Trump wins the 2024 election.
Leinberger worked in the same jurisdiction where Smith v. Trump was filed. This case accused Trump of illegally keeping at his Mar-a-Lago resort dozens of secret records from his first term and obstructing government efforts to recover them.