A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday said President Donald Trump administration officials “appear to be in direct violation” of her order against making prejudicial comments in the death penalty case of Luigi Mangione, the man accused in last December’s shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“The statements referenced in the September 23 letter by two high-ranking staff members of the Department of Justice, including within the Office of the Attorney General, appear to be in direct violation,” said Judge Margaret Garnett, reports The New York Daily News.
Her comments came after Mangione’s lawyers flagged remarks by Trump and senior Justice Department officials that they said cast their client as a “left-wing” terrorist.
The remarks, Garnett said, may have violated her April order prohibiting statements that could prejudice the jury pool, and she warned that she could impose sanctions in the matter.
“Safeguarding the integrity of proceedings requires strict adherence to the prohibition on public comments that could prejudice the administration of justice,” she added.
Garnett directed the government to submit a sworn declaration explaining the violations and to confirm that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had been informed of her order.
Mangione, 27, of Maryland, has pleaded not guilty to charges of capital murder, stalking, and firearms charges in connection with Thompson’s death outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.
Earlier this month, a separate judge dismissed terrorism charges against Mangione while keeping the state’s second-degree murder charges against the Ivy League graduate by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
If convicted under the state charges, Mangione is facing a sentence of life without parole, but if he is convicted in federal court, he could face execution.
His lawyers filed motions last week challenging the government’s authority to seek the death penalty.
Trump, speaking on Fox News last week amid tensions over the killing of conservative leader Charlie Kirk, described Mangione as though he had already been convicted.
“He shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me,” Trump said, according to defense filings.
Chad Gilmartin, deputy director of the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs, reposted the clip on social media with the caption “@POTUS is absolutely right” before deleting it. Another DOJ aide, Brian Nieves, amplified the post.
Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously announced that prosecutors would seek the death penalty, calling the killing a “cold-blooded assassination” and linking the decision to Trump’s law-and-order agenda. Defense lawyers objected at the time, saying her statement threatened Mangione’s right to a fair trial.
On Tuesday, Mangione’s attorneys accused the government of “knowingly and intentionally” disregarding Garnett’s order, arguing that officials had prejudiced their client by falsely linking him to unrelated violence and extremist groups.
“Mr. Mangione in fact does not support these violent actions, does not condone past or future political violence, nor is he in any way aligned with the group mentioned in the White House press release,” they wrote.
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