Former Justice Department prosecutor Carmen Mercedes Lineberger has been indicted for allegedly removing confidential Justice Department material and then concealing her efforts. Lineberger is accused of secretly transferring Jack Smith’s final report and hiding the material under files labeled “chocolate cake recipe” and “bundt cake recipe.” There has not been a greater recipe for disaster since aides tried to fit all of Biden’s candles on a cake. The case is particularly interesting because there was another person who was accused of a secret removal of Justice Department material who was not prosecuted: former FBI Director James Comey.
Linebarger, 62, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, has been indicted on four criminal charges: one felony count of obstruction of justice, one felony count of concealing government records and two misdemeanor counts of theft of government property valued at less than $1,000.
According to the indictment, Lineberger altered electronic file names of government records to conceal unauthorized transmissions of the documents to her personal email accounts and used file names for cake recipes to conceal her possession of the confidential information.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the public release of the report after the prosecution collapsed against the President.
The Justice Department alleges that Lineberger received a copy of Smith’s report before the court sealed it. Months later, she allegedly decided to transfer it to her personal email account in violation of the court order and Justice Department rules.
She has now pleaded not guilty and faces up to 20 years on the obstruction charge and other charges.
The decision is notable for a couple of reasons.
First, Smith made one last move in dismissing the case against Trump that left the door open to resuming his prosecution. Smith moved to dismiss the indictment “without prejudice” and then stressed to the court that the Department has previously “noted the possibility that a court might equitably toll the statute of limitations to permit proceeding against the President once out of office.” In other words, Trump could be prosecuted after he leaves office.
It is not known what the motive might have been in this transfer. One possibility would be a type of souvenir or trophy grab, which would be ironic given Smith’s suggestion that Trump may have transferred classified material for that type of possessory thrill. Another is the possible use for a book. Finally, there might have been a desire to preserve evidence to avoid destruction during the Trump years or possible release to the media.
The second notable aspect is that Comey was accused of such a knowing removal, but he was never actually prosecuted.
There was no court order governing the material removed by Comey after his firing, but it was clearly departmental material.
The Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, found that Comey was a leaker and had violated FBI policy in his handling of FBI memos. He found that Comey grabbed the material on his way out of the Bureau, including those containing the “code name and true identity” of a sensitive source.
While he did not find a disclosure of the classified information, Horowitz found that Comey took “the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive investigative information, obtained during the course of FBI employment, to achieve a personally desired outcome.” He further added that Comey “set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees—and the many thousands of more former FBI employees—who similarly have access to or knowledge of non-public information.”
Comey later admitted that he asked his friend, Columbia Law Professor Daniel Richman, to leak information from the documents to the New York Times.
While Comey is facing a weak criminal case over threats conveyed through beach shells, some of us saw his conduct in removing this material as a more serious breach.
Comey went on to write books on “ethical leadership” and recently sent a message to current FBI personnel that they should “hang on” and wait out Trump: “In two and a half years, and then we can rebuild.”
Rebuilding the bureau in Comey’s image is a truly chilling notion. Those “good old days” with Comey allowed agents to launch a baseless Russian collusion investigation at the behest of the Clinton campaign and lie to a secret court to secure surveillance of Trump figures.
In the meantime, it will be Lineberger, not Comey, who will face a jury for the removal of confidential material.
For Lineberger, these types of charges tend to be cut-and-dried for prosecutors if they can show that the material was restricted and that she took steps to conceal the alleged theft. While she gained access before the court order, she allegedly transferred the material after the order and then hid the material in files labeled as cake recipes. If those facts can be established in court, prosecutors likely believe that she can stick a fork in herself because she is done.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
An earlier version of this column ran on Fox.com
One way I can think of to explain why we see so much malfeasance and so few actual consequences: both sides are in it up to their eyeballs. The first side to break the truce of mutually assured destruction by actually prosecuting an upper-level player will trigger a major cascade that will go on for years. Of course prosecuting Trump doesn’t count because all good burrowcrats know he is evil.
Transparency is the only way to stop the rot. Let the chips fall where they may.
Yes, complicity…
we need a clean sweep of the justice system from corrupt judges to corrupt democrats!
so corruption is not a bipartisan concern? corruption is corruption. if you only see one sided corruption then you are part of the problem and need to get out of my country
Okay if we start with the dems then? corruption is corruption.
jail the criminals democrats by the 1000’s go up the food chain
She doesn’t have a thing to worry about. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the public release of the report after the prosecution collapsed against the President. This same judge will be assigned to preside over her trial. A leftist lawyer by the name of Mark Elias will say that he is representing her pro bono while the Democratic Party saunters by and slides a big fat check under his office door. Her trial will be interrupted when she jumps to her feet and hollers fascists! fascists! fascists! The judge will exclaim, control yourself, you should have screamed fascists four times instead of three, case dismissed!
The Democrats got em right where they want them, wrapped right around their little finger and they’ll spend whatever it takes to make damn sure they don’t come unwound. Jimmy Hoffa can’t hold a candle to these guys.
It was never clear ‘why’ Judge Cannon couldn’t hear the case against Trump. Like the special counsel law didn’t apply..? Many of us were baffled by that ruling. Once again Trump escaped any accountability.
Then again Anonymous, maybe it would be found out that Smith didn’t have enough evidence to secure a conviction and his lipstick would be found on Hillary Clinton’s rear end. Do you really think that Smith would have dropped the case if he had the evidence after saying outright that he was going to get Trump? Are you really that stupid? Sorry, stupid question.
Smith dropped the case only because the Supreme Court allowed Trump to escape all accountability.
Sure jan
except the most important accountability, the ones Trump made to the voters. Really, the only accountability that matters.
He’s doing great.
He’s doing great. I see you’re writing about the millions he and his family are raking in.
Thank you for another excellent write-up, Mr. Turley—but let’s be honest, history tells us exactly how this ends. Nothing will come of the Carmen caper, just like nothing ever came of Comey. Time and again, accountability fades, consequences vanish, and the so‑called guardians of justice close ranks. When justice is left to “the justice guys,” it too often fails to show up at all.
Is Lineberger being indicted by the same DOJ that created a slush fund for rioters?
Well, we know it isn’t the one who created the slush fund for sexual deviants in Congress to pay off their victims. Congress voted to keep that…
It is always the little guy who gets hit; never the ones pulling all the strings!
The hubris of Administrative State bureaucratic Philosopher Kings.
And now, The Fall.
If it were up to the Progressives, Benjamin Franklin would have said: “A Bureaucracy, if you can keep it.” 🙄
And once again, absolutely nothing will happen to Carmen
Uh oh looks like another DEI-Hire, Woke, Self-Justified Karen got herself turned upside down while under Trump Derangement Syndrome. Probably going to plead INSANITY at the time of the crime? Haha!!!!
Trump Derangement Syndrome is defined as: ‘The inability to discern that a convicted fraud is a convicted fraud’.
My question always is whether a DC jury will ever convict a crime against Trump, regardless of the facts.
Why should they, he’s guilty of something. Always.
“a DC jury”
The case is being heard in a *Florida* federal court.
As Margot Cleveland observed, an attorney investigating a mishandled classified documents case is charged with mishandling classified documents in that case.
If nothing else, Linebarger is guilty of terminal stupidity. She tried to conceal the fact the she was purloining confidential Federal information by renaming the files? Surely, you can’t be serious. It would have been trivial to use one of dozens of freely available encryption tools to make the file contents inscrutable before transferring, but renaming the file by itself accomplishes nada. I’d give anyone here with sporting blood 2:1 odds on a small wager that she wasn’t even smart enough to examine and/or alter the file metadata. I’d like to think that most high level DOJ employees are more intelligent than this, but the record suggests otherwise (e.g., seashell spiritualist Comey)
She may not have had access to such encryption tools on her DOJ machine and may have lacked any way to transfer to removable media. DOJ computers are probably highly controlled environments.
In a highly controlled environment, the only method truly available might have been photographing the screen, if she could bring a camera into the building, which might have not been allowed.
“She may not have had access to such encryption tools on her DOJ machine and may have lacked any way to transfer to removable media.”
Assuming that the allegedly secure government systems that she was forced to use to access this data in the first place were not FUBARED to the point of total ineffectiveness, which I must concede is all too possible, it is a reasonable assumption that a system actively scanning for and disabling encryption tools (or raising an alarm upon detection) would have also been capable of preventing the renaming of those files, as well as the initial and/or ultimate transfer (depending on at what point the renaming took place). My tentative conclusion, subject to quick revision as additional facts surface, is that both considerations are likely true: 1) the system was insecure as a result of incompetent design, coding, and/or administration; 2) the perp was a complete idiot who failed to take a simple step that would almost certainly (my SWAG >90% probability) have shielded her from detection and apprehension. YMMV
” as well as the initial and/or ultimate transfer”
This was intended to include emailing, btw.
Their utter incompetence at being deep state is what amazes me. It’s a bunch of idiots. USA can’t even deep state these days.
America needs to see these treasonous pieces of excrement face the full force of the law. Look what they did to J6 protesters, held in a DC gulag and tortured while the Obama/Clinton/Biden cabal perpetrated their seditious coup and the largest fraud to our election system and misuse of our monies, all from the highest office in the nation.
Listen stupid, its not a treason case, its a documents mishandling. F-ing read the article before yapping stupidly.
LMAO
Listen Genius, it was an attempt to prevent the leading Republican from running by putting him in prison.
I’m not just talking about her dimwit. I’m talking about the entire thing, Smith was Garland’s attack dog.
Trump had every right to be in possession of classified documents. Smith was a joke, did that senile friendly old man Biden have any legal right to have boxes of classified documents stored in his garage or at his Chicom funded library? That would be a NO fkstik, the entire conspiracy is TREASONOUS, especially giving monies to Iran during their proxy wars.
The case is rooted in the origins of the Obama /Biden/Clinton seditious conspiracy that created Jack Smith you moron. I realize you liberal booger eating morons lack logical reasoning and critical thinking capabilities, as evidenced here. As a favor I will refrain from further descriptive remarks towards you which would thereby be lowering myself to your third grade level of intellect.
Democrap Fascists will do anything and everything to destroy their political opponents. That much is clear. It’s even encouraged by figures like James “Higher Loyalty” Comey. We all know the reason this little Fascist emailed the report to herself. We know where it would have ended up. Enough of the leftwing insurrection.
Generally speaking, in cases like this, there usually is someone else behind the scenes directing the perpetrator’s actions. Congress has failed to finish the job it said it would do. Reps Comer and Jordan talk a good game but deliver nothing. Sen. Grassley has at least uncovered and released documents from time to time. The American people are angry that this mess has been able to persist without resolution for so long. Bondi did nothing, and Blanche is hopelessly conflicted on this and all other issues involving the POTUS. A special counsel might be able to salvage the pieces and put together what so many of us already know.
Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, the former DOJ thief who stole Smith’s report needs to be given limited use immunity and forced to tell what she knows. When someone like this gets nabbed, they are immediately contacted by well-sounding lawyers looking to “help.” The help is not for the defendant, though, but for the party who stands to lose if the defendant talks. The mob has been doing this for years. After going through the motions, including discovery, the mob lawyer tells the mope to cop a plea and make a deal. The mope does so, thinking it’s her best shot at seeing daylight again. Meanwhile, back at the mob, everyone is happy, and the boss is protected.
Comer, Jordan, and the rest do not understand these techniques. We need a special counsel appointed who’s an in-your-face Part A felony court dirtbag lawyer who understands the culture here and knows how to make these people, like Lineberger, see the light and feel the heat.
The case is being led by a special prosecutor in Florida who, by all accounts, has a long history of making such scum “see the light.”
Yes, you’re correct, Christie Utt is a good choice here. Her appointment and that of the NDFL USA was to avoid COI with SDFL coworkers of the indicted prosecutor who worked in SDFL. The FBI/OIG has had this case for six months or more and I’m sure they have pulled text/phone records and are just waiting for Carmen to flip. Getting to the bottom of this should be … ready for it? – a cakewalk!
And whoever Carmen flips on will of course be icing on the cake.
If Martha Stewart can spend time in the pokey for what she did, then so can this DOJ attorney…scumbag
Martha Stewart? Really?
Left wing POS…..Hang ’em all!
Nothing says “transparent government” more than jailing those who possess government reports.
That document needs to be made public.
Yes, more than half the country wants to hear Jack Smith’s case.
Sally,
I tend to agree with you but its release should be carefully done so as not to mislead or distract the public from the truth. We all know how lawyers are taught to defend a client no matter what and to do so, they often highlight the good and bury or minimize the bad. This of course is allowed because the other side in our adversarial system allows the facts to be examined and critiqued. Without the latter, we are left with a one-sided view prejudicial to the cause of party who authors it. This is one of the reasons we do not allow the public release of grand jury minutes except in unusual cases where a court decides to do so in the interest of justice. It’s hard to protect the innocent-till-proved-guilty doctrine if one side holds all the cards. So, yes, transparency requires release but tempered with information that challenges the veracity of the one-sided view.
Trump is free to refute anything in the report he wants.
JJC,
According to this report, https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/pro-dei-prosecutor-charged-over-illegally-emailing-herself-jack-smiths-sealed
“Lineberger has been charged with two counts of theft of government money or property; the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations; and with the concealment, removal or mutilation of public records.”
It later on goes to say, “The altered government records included a document that included parts of internal DOJ electronic messages, an internal DOJ memorandum and a DOJ report related to a criminal prosecution that had been court-ordered to remain under seal and prohibited from distribution or disclosure outside of the department, the DOJ also said.”
So, would the “altered” records would call into question the truth of it?
Ok Sally, right after we get Hillary’s emails, whose cocaine was in the WH and Obama’s application to Harvard to see if he claimed to be a foreigner. I am not saying he is a foreign born, just curious if he used it to get into H.
I’m saying he is, there’s way too much evidence of fraud surrounding his “certificate of live birth”, evidenced by Joe Arpio and his FBI forensic team. Fro his youth in Indonesia to his student loan information and academic transcripts locked tight. Regardless, the origin of the Birther movement was initiated by none other than Hillary Clinton and Phillip Berg.
Whether born in Hawaii or Kenya, I believe from an article that Obama’s mother was a minor at the time of his birth and his father was a British subject. Reportedly, under federal immigration law, the minor child legally attains citizenship of the adult fathers’ nationality.
you’re an idiot. his mother was a citizen. your point is stupid and consequently so are you
Hey Diklis
What part of minor do you not understand? What legal standing does a minor have over the rights of their adult partner when determining birthright of their child? Do you suppose Obama Sr. perhaps wished his son to be British or Kenyan rather than American? Don’t hurt yourself thinking…
The government investigated. The government chose not to prosecute. Why must the report be made public?
As I understand it, standard practice is that if the government investigates and chooses not to prosecute, the file is not made public. To release it prejudices the public against the person targeted. That is especially true if the person investigated is a political figure, where the opposition political party will unscrupulously spin, mischaracterize, exaggerate, etc. what is in the report for its own political gain.
I assume THAT is the real reason why you want it released, not some high minded principle about transparency.
I suspect you want unscrupulous Democrats and media influencers to spin, mischaracterize, remove context, etc. whatever is in the report to prejudice voters against Trump and Republicans before the election.
The government did attempt to prosecute. I don’t know where you are getting your BS.
The government attempted to prosecute and their “special counsel “ was exposed as a partisan hack and the case was dismissed without prejudice. The Dems are already trying to figure out how to go after him after his term is up.
How about the $42 million spent on the Mueller investigation when they all knew it was BS? How about Comey’s FISA warrants and omissions?