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A erstwhile national authoritative was charged this week with emailing herself a study connected the Justice Department's probe into President Trump that a justice had kept nether fastener and key.
Carmen Lineberger was indicted Tuesday connected 2 counts of theft of authorities property, positive counts of concealing and removing a nationalist grounds and altering a nationalist record. She was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty.
The charges absorption connected a study penned by erstwhile Justice Department peculiar counsel Jack Smith, whose squad charged Mr. Trump with trying to overturn his 2020 predetermination nonaccomplishment and allegedly mishandling classified documents. The election-related parts of the study were released successful mid-January 2025, but a week later, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon blocked former Attorney General Merrick Garland "or his successor(s)" from releasing the information connected classified documents, known arsenic "Volume II."
A recently unsealed indictment accuses Lineberger — antecedently the managing adjunct U.S. lawyer successful the Southern District of Florida — of downloading a transcript of Volume II past December and redeeming it nether the record sanction "Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf." She past allegedly emailed it from her Justice Department relationship to her idiosyncratic account.
Lineberger was besides accused of downloading portions of an interior Justice Department memorandum and emailing it to herself successful September 2025. Those records were allegedly saved nether the record sanction "Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf."
The indictment does not specify what, if anything, Lineberger allegedly planned to bash with the documents.
CBS News has reached retired to Lineberger's lawyer for comment.
The Volume II study astatine the halfway of Tuesday's indictment was compiled aft Smith charged Mr. Trump successful 2023 with retaining delicate authorities documents from his archetypal word and storing them astatine Mar-a-Lago. The then-former president and 2 employees were besides charged with conspiracy to obstruct a national investigation. Mr. Trump has agelong denied wrongdoing and formed the probe — which included an FBI hunt of Mar-a-Lago — arsenic politically motivated.
Cannon dismissed the indictment successful 2024 connected the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed. Then, 1 time aft Mr. Trump was sworn successful for his 2nd term, Cannon said the Justice Department cannot merchandise oregon stock Smith's study connected the probe, connected the grounds that it could unfairly prejudice the 2 Trump staffers whose transgression cases remained open.
Cannon did not forestall the Justice Department from releasing Volume I of Smith's report, which focused connected Mr. Trump's efforts to stay successful bureau aft losing successful 2020. The charges against Mr. Trump deed a roadblock successful mid-2024 aft the Supreme Court ruled the president has immunity for authoritative acts, and the lawsuit was dismissed aft Mr. Trump won backmost the presidency. Smith argued successful Volume I that Mr. Trump would person been convicted if not for his instrumentality to office.
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