President Donald Trump is calling for criminal prosecutions against former special counsel Jack Smith and members of his team after a former federal prosecutor connected to Smith’s classified documents case was charged with allegedly funneling sealed Justice Department records to her private email accounts.

“Deranged Jack Smith and his ‘gang’ are really bad news. Can never be allowed to happen again,” Trump wrote Wednesday night on Truth Social. “They should all be prosecuted!”

Trump’s remarks came shortly after the Justice Department revealed charges against Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a former managing assistant U.S. attorney in South Florida who worked on issues tied to Smith’s investigation into documents kept at Mar-a-Lago.

According to federal prosecutors, Lineberger secretly transferred sensitive DOJ materials — including portions of Smith’s unreleased report on the classified documents case — to personal Gmail and Hotmail accounts, allegedly disguising the files as baking recipes in an effort to avoid detection.

Investigators say the files were relabeled with names such as “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf” and “Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf” to conceal the contents.

Prosecutors allege the records included sealed investigative documents and internal Justice Department communications that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had specifically ordered kept confidential.

Lineberger, 62, appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach on Wednesday and entered a plea of not guilty.

She has been charged with obstruction of justice, theft of government property, and concealment of official records. A conviction on all counts could expose her to a lengthy prison sentence stretching decades.

FBI Director Kash Patel sharply criticized the alleged misconduct in a statement posted to X.

“This FBI will not hesitate to bring to account those who violated the trust of the American public in an investigation that should’ve never been brought to begin with,” Patel wrote.

The charges against Lineberger are expected to fuel additional scrutiny over Smith’s prosecution of Trump regarding classified materials retained at Mar-a-Lago after his first term in office.

Judge Aileen Cannon threw out the case in 2024, determining that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated constitutional requirements.

Smith eventually dropped his appeal after Trump won reelection.

The unreleased section of Smith’s final report — the same material prosecutors say was emailed by Lineberger — has remained under seal and has never been made public.

Trump’s legal team previously argued that releasing the report would improperly disclose privileged information and grand jury material while violating constitutional safeguards.

The Justice Department had supported Cannon’s ruling preventing the report from being distributed outside official departmental channels.

In recent years, Lineberger also attracted attention for backing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs promoted during the Biden administration and for participating in implicit bias initiatives connected to the National Black Prosecutors Association, according to Just the News.

Because of Lineberger’s professional ties to the Southern District of Florida office where she previously worked, the case is being handled by prosecutors from the Northern District of Florida to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

{Matzav.com}