Federal prosecutors on Wednesday challenged arguments that two Justice Department employees jeopardized Luigi Mangione’s chance at a fair trial by reposting comments President Donald Trump made about him.
In a letter filed in the Southern District of New York, federal prosecutors said that the department employees were not part of the prosecution team and did not know of the judge’s previous warnings not to comment publicly on the case. Mangione is facing federal charges in connection with the December murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“They operate entirely outside the scope of the prosecution team, possess no operational role in the investigative or prosecutorial functions of the Mangione matter, and are not ‘associated’ with this litigation,” the filing reads.
On Sept. 18, Trump said in a Fox News interview that Mangione “shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me. ... He shot him right in the middle of the back — instantly dead. ... This is a sickness. This really has to be studied and investigated.”
An X account affiliated with the White House, Rapid Response 47, then posted a video with Trump’s comment to its millions of followers a day later, according to a letter submitted to the court by Mangione’s attorneys on Sept 23.
That video was reposted by Chad Gilmartin, the deputy director of the Justice Department’s public affairs office, according to the September letter. Gilmartin wrote that Trump “is absolutely right” in his repost.
Federal prosecutors also said in Wednesday’s letter that once they became aware of the posts, they “promptly directed” them to be taken down.
Mangione’s attorneys said in a brief court filing Thursday that they will file a motion to dismiss, as well as a suppression motion, on Friday.
Defense attorneys also asked the judge for permission to file an oversized brief of about 15,000 words, which could be as long as 50 pages. Mangione’s lead attorney, Karen Agnifilo, said she has spoken with the government, which she said has no objection.
Prosecutors allege that Mangione killed Thompson on a midtown Manhattan street before the father of two was set to participate in his company’s investor conference and then fled.
After a days-long manhunt, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, where prosecutors said they found a diary on Mangione that allegedly contains an entry suggesting that someone should “wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention.”
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all state and federal charges against him.
In response to the September defense letter regarding the posts, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett asked prosecutors for an explanation and a sworn declaration on “how these violations occurred.”
Last month, Mangione’s attorneys also filed a 114-page motion in his federal case arguing that federal prosecutors should be precluded from treating it as a death penalty case due to public comments made by Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, Bondi directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.
A New York state judge also dismissed state terrorism charges against Mangione last month, arguing that the crime he is accused of does not fit “within the definition of terrorism.”
