Politics Added 114d ago 12 outlets

DOJ charges federal prosecutor with stealing sealed Jack Smith report on Trump classified documents case

The Department of Justice indicted Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a managing assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Pierce, Florida, with four felony counts for allegedly downloading a sealed report prepared by special counsel Jack Smith on Trump's classified documents case and emailing it to her personal Gmail account in January 2025. The report, which summarizes Trump's alleged crimes, was sealed by Judge Aileen Cannon and has remained secret since its preparation in the final days before Trump's inauguration.

Divergence score

12 outlets covered it, splitting into 5 framing camps across 3 bias groups.

5 camps

3 bias groups

The spectrum · how 12 outlets placed this story

LeftCenterRight

ABC News

NY Post

New York Times

Politico

PBS NewsHour

Washington Examiner

The Hill

Reuters

CNN

Breitbart

NPR

The Federalist

Horizontal = outlet biasColor = this story's framing

Supportive of action

Neutral

Dismissive

Critical

Alarmist

International angle

Widest split · the two outlets furthest apart, and who published first

Furthest apart on this story

NY Post

Ex-federal prosecutor allegedly sent sealed report on Trump's classified documents case to personal email

Alleged misconduct and specific charges · neutral

PBS NewsHour

Ex-prosecutor charged over handling of sealed Smith report on Trump classified files probe

Institutional misconduct by Justice Department insider · negative

How NY Post and PBS NewsHour compare across every story →

First to report

Politicofirst
Reuters+1.4 h
CNN+2.9 h
ABC News+5.9 h
New York Times+7.1 h
NY Post+7.3 h
PBS NewsHour+7.9 h
Washington Examiner+8.7 h
The Hill+8.9 h
Breitbart+13.0 h
NPR+18.7 h
The Federalist+52.6 h

By each outlet's earliest publish time in this story. Feeds that index slowly can appear later than they printed.

The split, in one line

Coverage now splits between procedural violation focus (ABC, NY Post, NYT, Politico) and institutional breach angle (PBS), with PBS emphasizing the scale of misconduct by a sitting prosecutor versus debate over seal interpretation.

How each outlet covered it