Attorney General Pam Bondi should have recused herself from Luigi Mangione's federal murder trial over a "profound" conflict of interest, his attorneys have argued.
Bondi used to be a partner at Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm that represents UnitedHealthcare, and continues to profit from her links to the firm, Mangione's lawyers argued in a filing late Friday.
Mangione, 27, is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, on the streets of midtown Manhattan last December. He was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges.
The husband-and-wife defense team, Karen and Marc Agnifilo, said “any criminal defendant, let alone one who the government is trying to kill, is due a criminal process that is untainted by the financial interests of his prosecutors.”
Her past and present financial interest in Ballard Partners, which continues to lobby on behalf of UHC, violates Mangione’s due process rights, they argued.
“The Attorney General took the remarkable and unprecedented step of personally and publicly ordering line prosecutors to seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing UHC’s CEO,” the 51-page letter said.
Mangione’s defense team wants prosecutors barred from seeking the death penalty, two counts dismissed and evidence and statements thrown out. A hearing to discuss these issues is scheduled for January 9 before U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett.
In April, Judge Garnett told Bondi not to make public statements about the case to ensure a fair trial following her statement that she would seek the death penalty “as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
In a November filing with the court, federal prosecutors defended their decision to seek the death penalty and said that “publicity, even intense, is not novel in this district”, adding that "high-visibility cases” are routinely tried in the Southern District.
Friday’s filing comes a day after the conclusion of a lengthy pretrial suppression hearing in New York State criminal court where Mangione’s attorneys sought to suppress statements he made at the time of his arrest, as well as the search of his backpack where a gun and a silencer were found. A ruling in that case is not expected until May 18.
NBC News has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York and Bondi for comment. Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was recused from the case in April, though no reason was given for the decision.
