Judge scolds Justice Department over public statements in UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case
Judge scolds Justice Department over public statements in UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case
NEW YORK (AP) — At least two senior Justice Department officials likely broke court rules governing the conduct of prosecutors by reposting comments President Donald Trump made about Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating the CEO at UnitedHealthcare, a federal judge said Wednesday.
Judge Margaret M. Garnett said in an order that the officials probably violated a local rule limiting what prosecutors can say publicly about the guilt or innocence of a defendant before a trial.
On Sept. 18, Trump went on Fox News and called Mangione “a pure assassin.”
“He shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me,” Trump said. “He shot him right in the middle of the back, instantly dead.”
A video clip of Trump’s remarks was then posted on the social platform X by the White House, and then reposted by Chad Gilmartin, a Justice Department spokesperson, who added the comment, “@POTUS is absolutely right.” Gilmartin’s post, which was later deleted, was then reposted by Brian Nieves, an associate deputy attorney general.
The judge asked the department to explain how the violations occurred and what steps are being taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“Future violations may result in sanctions, which could include personal financial penalties, contempt of court findings, or relief specific to the prosecution of this matter,” the judge wrote.
In an email, a Justice Department spokesperson said there would be no comment.
Earlier this month, defense lawyers for Mangione had asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of public comments by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the fatal shooting of Thompson on Dec. 4 as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
In the federal case, Mangione is charged with murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, as well as stalking and gun offenses.
Defense lawyers argued in a written submission to Garnett earlier this month that Justice Department officials poisoned the case when Bondi declared prior to his April indictment that capital punishment is warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.” Bondi announced in April that she was directing Manhattan federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.
His lawyers argued that Bondi’s statements and other official actions — including a highly choreographed perp walk that saw Mangione led up a Manhattan pier by armed officers, and the Trump administration’s flouting of established death penalty procedures — “have violated Mr. Mangione’s constitutional and statutory rights and have fatally prejudiced this death penalty case.”
Defense lawyers sent Garnett a letter on Tuesday saying the government was continuing to prejudice their client’s right to a fair trial with the re-postings on social media of Trump’s comments.
They said Mangione was unjustly described by the White House press secretary as a “left wing assassin” and by another White House official as an “anti-facist” and had been referenced in a press release Monday when Trump designated a decentralized movement known as antifa as a terrorist organization.
“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,” the lawyers wrote.
“The attempts to connect Mr. Mangione with these incidents and paint him as a ‘left wing’ violent extremist are false, prejudicial, and part of a greater political narrative that has no place in any criminal case, especially one where the death penalty is at stake,” they said. “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.”
The order from Garnett was not the first time a Manhattan federal judge has scolded Justice Department officials for public statements in a criminal case.
In April 2015, Judge Valerie Caproni accused then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of straying “so close to the edge of the rules governing his own conduct” when he announced a corruption case against former Democratic New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver that it was not frivolous for Silver to claim that the “media blitz” that accompanied his arrest was prejudicial.
Silver was eventually convicted on corruption charges and was sentenced to over six years in prison. In January 2022, the federal Bureau of Prisons announced that he had died in federal custody at age 77.
By LARRY NEUMEISTER and MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press
