Judge warns DOJ over public comments on Luigi Mangione murder case

MANHATTAN (CN) ­— Recent social media posts and public statements from Justice Department officials about Luigi Mangione, the defendant accused in the high-profile killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, may have run afoul of court rules restricting pretrial publicity, a New York federal judge wrote on Wednesday morning.

Mangione, the 27-year-old Maryland man facing state and federal murder cases over the fatal shooting of the health insurance executive last December, was arrested at an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s following a five-day manhunt before eventually being extradited to New York.

In a written order, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett concluded “two high-ranking staff members of the Department of Justice, including within the Office of Attorney General,” recently made public statements about the case that likely violated an April 2025 court order in the docket, along with local federal district court rules that prohibit lawyers and prosecutors from making prejudicial pretrial statements, particularly regarding the guilt or innocence of parties.

Garnett ordered federal prosecutors to advise President Donald Trump’s deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, to inform Justice Department officials that any further violations could result in punishments, including financial penalties or contempt of court.

“For the avoidance of doubt or confusion," Garnett wrote in the two-page order. “The rule provides that, in a criminal case, ‘it is the duty of the lawyer or law firm, and of non-lawyer personnel employed by a lawyer’s office or subject to a lawyer’s supervision, … not to release or authorized the release … of opinion that reasonable person would expected to be disseminated by means of public communication, in connection with pending … criminal litigation with which they are associated, if there is a substantial likelihood that the dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the due administration of justice.’”

Garnett, a Joe Biden appointee, ordered the Department of Justice to respond in letter by Oct. 3, explaining how these violations occurred.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on the order.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April, more than two weeks before Mangione’s federal grand jury indictment, that the Justice Department would be seeking capital punishment as part of Trump’s initiative to “make America safe again.”

Mangione’s lawyers cited Bondi’s Instagram posts, television appearances, and press release related to her April announcement as false and prejudicial in their recent motion challenging the constitutionality of the decision to seek the federal death penalty in his case.

“The attorney general’s pattern of public statements in perhaps the most high-profile murder case currently pending in the United States shows that this capital prosecution was brought unabashedly for political reasons, that the victim’s professional status as a CEO was relevant to her decision, and that she had no interest in considering mitigating information,” Mangione’s defense wrote in the 114-page motion filed late Friday night.

“But perhaps most critically, the Attorney General’s actions show both that she intended to improperly influence potential members of the grand jury pool and petit venire, and that she continued to do so for an extended period during the pendency of this case," Mangione’s lawyers wrote.

Mangione faces two counts of stalking, a firearms offense and murder through the use of a firearm. He also faces charges in New York Supreme Court, including first-degree murder.

New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro dismissed state terrorism charges against Mangione last week, finding insufficient evidence to support them.

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