Justice Department officials may be jeopardizing Luigi Mangione’s federal case by continuing to discuss the accused health insurance CEO assassin in public, a judge warned Wednesday.
Social media posts from two high-ranking DOJ staffers “appeared to be in direct violation” of rules barring publicity that could taint the alleged killer’s jury pool, Manhattan federal judge Margaret Garrett wrote.
Mangione’s lawyers say White House statements about his case are threatening his right to a fair trial. AFP via Getty ImagesThe judge warned that future breaches could lead to DOJ brass being fined or the court taking other measures “specific to the prosecution of this matter.”
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to federal and state charges of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood outside the insurance giant’s annual investor conference in Manhattan. The federal government says it is seeking the death penalty.
A judge has ordered that Attorney General Pam Bondi be made aware of rules limiting DOJ’s public statements about Mangione and other defendants. APWednesday’s ruling mentions a DOJ spokesman’s Sept. 19 X post referencing a clip of President Trump saying on Fox News that Mangione “shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me.”
“POTUS is absolutely right,” the spokesperson, Chad Gilmartin, said in the since-deleted post.
Gilmartin’s statement was reposted the next morning by Brian Nieves, the chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the ruling says.
Both statements appeared to breach court rules limiting public statements by DOJ officials, Garnett wrote Wednesday. The judge has also signed an order directing that US Attorney General Pam Bondi be made aware that the rule applies to her as well.
Mangione’s lawyers have argued that recent White House statements baselessly trying to link the accused killer’s case to other “left-wing” violence are also threatening his right to a fair trial.
Luigi Mangione stands accused of the murder of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson. Linkedin / Brian ThompsonWhite House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to Mangione as a “left-wing assassin” in a Monday press briefing.
An official White House press release sent out later that day announcing that the left-wing group Antifa has been dubbed a “domestic terrorist organization” accused “leftists” of cheering on Mangione as part of a list of what it claimed was “Radical Left violence that has permeated the nation in recent years.”
“The Government has indelibly prejudiced Mr. Mangione by baselessly linking him to
unrelated violent events, and left-wing extremist groups, despite there being no connection or
affiliation,” Mangione’s lawyers wrote to the court in a late Tuesday letter.
Justice Department officials did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment. The feds have until next Friday to respond to the judge in court papers.
Mangione is due back in court for the federal case on Dec. 5. No trial date has been set.
