Trump DOJ Leaks His Own Crimes

6 Jul 2026 · 16 min · 7 chapters

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In short

The episode discusses a new court filing claiming the U.S. Department of Justice mishandled discovery in the Mar-a-Lago case. The host argues Judge Aileen Cannon’s order sealing “Mar-a-Lago Volume 2” (Jack Smith’s report) was effectively undermined when the report was embedded in discovery materials and sent to the defense team.

Key claims

DOJ confirmed three embedded documents were copies of Volume 2 within emails; defense counsel noticed on June 9, 2026; DOJ took about a month to notify the court (filed July 2) and then sought recovery of the flash drives. Notable example: an indictment of former DOJ prosecutor Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, allegedly sending Volume 2 to her personal computer and disguising it as a “bunt cake recipe.”

Guests

none mentioned; the episode is hosted by Michael Popak.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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DOJ's Mishandling of the Mar-a-Lago Report

0:50 to 2:12

Discover the implications of the DOJ's mishandling of the Mar-a-Lago report.

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DOJ's Mishandling of the Mar-a-Lago Report

2:25 to 3:19

Discover the implications of the DOJ's mishandling of the Mar-a-Lago report.

“This is the Mar-a-Lago report that Jack Smith prepared.”

The Indictment of Carmen Mercedes Lineberger

3:19 to 4:19

Learn about the indictment against DOJ attorney Carmen Lineberger.

“Let's get to the bottom of this new joint notice of inadvertent discovery disclosure.”

Judge Cannon's Sealing Order

4:19 to 6:27

Understand the significance of Judge Cannon's sealing order on the Mar-a-Lago report.

“Throw in the trash bin of history, the entirety of volume two of Jack Smith's report.”

Discovery and Disclosure Issues

6:27 to 10:30

Explore the complexities surrounding the discovery and disclosure in the case.

“to bring the case supported by another member of the Department of Justice team in the Northern District of Florida District.”

The Future of the Case

10:48 to 14:00

Get insights on the possible future developments in the case against Trump.

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Podcast Updates and Announcements

14:00 to 14:10

Listeners are informed about new reporting and subscription options.

“We got ad-free versions of the podcast and hot takes where Legal AF on Substack.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

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2:25Michael Popok:Well, the curse of Judge Aileen Cannon and the Mar-a-Lago Volume 2 report has struck again because the Department of Justice had to admit and confess in court in a brand new filing in the last hour or so that they mishandled the Mar-a-Lago report and they let it out to third parties. This is the Mar-a-Lago report that Jack Smith prepared. The public has never seen that Judge Cannon, on behalf of her patron, Donald Trump, sealed in a tomb forevermore and even bound the hands of the Department of Justice in the future from releasing it. And they just cavalierly sent it over to the defense team representing a defendant who tried to take that report home.

3:06Michael Popok:And they had to admit in the filing, oops, we sent it back to the same defense team who's defending a case about misappropriating the report. I'm Michael Popak. Let's get to the bottom of this new joint notice of inadvertent discovery disclosure. Let's take a time out for a minute. I've been doing this for 35 years. I've had a report on more errors, intentional or otherwise, misrepresentations, fraudulent testimony, fraudulent documents being submitted by the Department of Justice, incomplete filings, error-filled filings, failure to supply any case law, failure to respond, missed deadlines than at any time in my life.

3:51Michael Popok:This Department of Justice has done 250 years worth of errors and mistakes and fraud and corruption all wrapped into one package. Now let's get down to this one. You may recall that at the request of Donald Trump, literally, and some of the co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, about the Mar-a-Lago case, Walt Nauta, having previously been represented by the number two in the Department of Justice, Stan Woodward, Donald Trump's lawyers, not Todd Blanche, but it might as well be, filed a motion with Judge Cannon to seal forevermore in a tomb. Throw in the trash bin of history, the entirety of volume two of Jack Smith's report.

4:38Michael Popok:Now, we got volume one about the D.C. election interference because Merrick Garland, who was then the attorney general for the United States, released it as he is supposed to do before the term ended for Joe Biden. Now, he dragged his feet about Mar-a-Lago and he left it behind for Pamela Joe Bondi to make the decision. And we know what her decision was to never release it. Different parties have tried to get it. And there's actually an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals case that's still pending, although they recently canceled the oral argument that they were going to hear about whether they were going to reverse Judge Cannon on her order.

5:18Michael Popok:So that order stands. Now, that takes us to the criminal case of an assistant U.S. attorney, actually the managing assistant U.S. attorney. In Fort Pierce, which is where Judge Cannon resides, in the Department of Justice, a person by the name of Carmen Mercedes Lineberger. Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, according to the indictment that was rendered in the Southern District of Florida by a grand jury, sent the Mar-a-Lago Volume 2 home to her personal computer and tried to cover her tracks by calling it a chocolate cake recipe or a bunt cake recipe. Yes, we've got the bunt cake indictment against Carmen Mercedes Leinberger.

6:01Michael Popok:Now, I'm not here to defend her. I don't know what she did or why she did it. I'm just reading to you from what I know about the indictment. And she's represented by counsel that sit in West Palm Beach. Okay. That case is being prosecuted in the Southern District of Florida, but not by Southern District of Florida U.S. attorneys because she worked in that office for like 20 years and she knew everybody. So the Department of Justice appointed a special prosecutor who sits up in Tallahassee, Florida, a person by the name of Christine Oute to bring the case supported by another member of the Department of Justice team in the Northern District of Florida District.

6:44Michael Popok:So they've taken it away from the local prosecutors in Judge Cannon's backyard because of where Carmen Mercedes Leinberger, the former prosecutor, used to live. Okay. So far, we sort of know this is all a little bit of connect the dots. Now we've got the joint notice, which I'll post on Legal AF Substack today for our paid members. Okay. Here's what they just disclosed. Paragraph one. This is to Judge Cannon because her order about burying the Mar-a-Lago report and it never seeing the light of day, let alone being sent to a third party, governs in this issue. On May 19, 2026, the grand jury returned an indictment against Ms.

7:29Michael Popok:Leinberger. Okay. Carmen Mercedes Leinberger. Access to the report, that's the Mar-a-Lago report by Jack Smith, as part of criminal discovery in the separate matter remains a contested issue that may be addressed at a future date. The defense team wants to see the report. They don't want to turn over the report. On May 29th, the government filed its unopposed motion for protective order to preemptively limit the further dissemination by defense counsel of other sensitive materials disclosed and furnished when the government, pursuant to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, provided their initial discovery.

8:08Michael Popok:The government prosecutors have an obligation, we call it Brady material, to turn over anything that may be exculpatory, get somebody off the hook, prove they're not guilty, or inculpatory, prove their guilt. All of that has to be produced right up front under Rule 16 and case law. On June 3rd, 2026, the government fulfilled its Rule 16 discovery obligation, says paragraph 3, giving flash drives, you know, little portable hard drives, to defense counsel. On June 9th, defense counsel notified the government that upon reviewing the electronic discovery that same day, they identified three documents embedded within the materials and contacted the government to determine if those were intended to be produced.

8:55Michael Popok:In other words, even the defense counsel was like, why is this in the pile? Upon review, the government confirmed the documented questions were copies of volume two of the report that were embedded within emails that were required. So they produced the emails they were supposed to strip off the report, but they didn't. Look, magnesium, it's something most of us lack. And if you're taking that drugstore variant, you're still not getting the full picture. Industrial farming, chronic stress, and everyday aging all make it worse. Most supplements only use one form of magnesium, but magnesium comes in many forms that support your body in different ways.

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10:20Michael Popok:Experience the most trusted magnesium for purity, potency, and performance. Plus, it's non-GMO, vegan, and gluten-free, making it a choice you can feel good about. Go to qualialife.com slash legal AF for 50 % off. And here's a bonus. Use the code legal AF for an additional 15 % off your order. That's Q-U-A-L-I-A life.com slash legal AF. And then use code legal AF. Thanks to Qualia for sponsoring this episode. Now, here's a big question. This all went down around June 9. Last time I looked, this is July 2nd. So what took them a month to inform the court that they needed the report back and to guide her?

11:10Michael Popok:Upon confirmation, the Government Defense Council voluntarily ceased review of the discovery material. that had not already been examined, deleted it from their downloads and cooperated with the government to recover the flash drives. This is a month ago. The government acknowledges the professionalism and candor of the Defense Council in remedying this inadvertent inclusion in discovery materials published by the government. Filed by Christy Ut and John Heakin for the Department of Justice on July 2nd, 2026. Under normal circumstances, a judge like Judge Kennan would chastise a party, whether it's the government or otherwise, for telling her a month late about the disclosure.

11:58Michael Popok:You know she's not going to do that here. She only chastises Jack Smith, the Department of Justice under Joe Biden, and anything she can do to bend over backwards about Donald Trump and his Department of Justice, she will do. So I haven't seen her response to this yet, to this joint notice of inadvertent discovery disclosure. I'm sure later today she will issue an order. I will be shocked, but I will report on it. I will be shocked if she wraps the knuckles of the Department of Justice under Donald Trump and Todd Blanche for letting her know so late. This shows how sloppy the Department of Justice is.

12:37Michael Popok:They're corrupt and they're sloppy. I just did a video that's up on Legal AF YouTube channel about John O. Brennan, the CIA director, who's filed before he can even be indicted in Judge Cannon's courtroom by a grand jury that she was handpicked by Trump to preside over for him giving testimony to Congress about his term as director of the CIA and their investigation of Trump, Russia and election interference. They filed a motion to make sure Donald Trump doesn't destroy all the evidence, doesn't make messages, poof, disappear on a Signal app or otherwise, and to try to get the case away from Judge Cannon.

13:15Michael Popok:Now you see why. Now you see why. I'm going to continue to follow the next developments here. And we had a long weekend coming up of great programming on the Legal AF YouTube channel. Take a minute, hit that free subscribe button there. And if you want to read the joint notice, I posted a Legal AF substack for our paid members. So until my next report, this is Michael Povac. Can't get your fill of Legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called, wait for it, Morning AF.

13:56Michael Popok:What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. We got some new reporting. We got interviews. We got ad-free versions of the podcast and hot takes where Legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.

From the publisher

In shocking news, the sloppy and corrupt DOJ has once again mishandled documents and information, and has now had to file very late to tell Judge Aileen Cannon that they “inadvertently” disclosed, a MONTH AGO, to a third party, the sealed Mar-a-Lago Jack Smith Volume 2 report about Trump’s indicted espionage act violations!. Popok updates on the fight over the public disclosure of the Report, the indictment of a former Assistant US Attorney for allegedly trying to take it home, and what’s happening at the 11th Circuit and efforts to overturn Judge Cannon’s rulings.

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