A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration and fficials from the Department of Justice may have breached both a criminal procedure rule and an existing court order by issuing public statements that could unfairly prejudice the case against Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old charged in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024.
In a filing on Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett ordered the Justice Department to respond to a letter Mangione’s lawyers sent on Tuesday which accused the Trump administration of violating their client’s right to a fair trial in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In the order, she wrote that multiple DOJ staff members appeared to have disregarded a New York rule that bars attorneys from making public remarks likely to bias a criminal proceeding. Mangione’s lawyers referred to several comments administration officials made about Mangione in the days after Kirk’s killing, including by the president.
Mangione’s defense attorney Karen Agnifilo wrote in her letter: “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. A recent, tragic, high-profile murder has only increased this prejudicial rhetoric. 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. 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.”
Mangione’s team presented evidence of statements by DOJ personnel and White House officials that the lawyers argued had tainted their client’s ability to receive a fair trial by tying him to unrelated acts of political violence, including Ryan Routh’s attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump and the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
In response, Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in her decision that “it appears from this letter that multiple employees at the Department of Justice may have violated Local Criminal Rule 23.1, and this Court’s order of April 25, 2025 specifically identifying the strictures of this rule for counsel and directing the prosecution team to ensure that the highest levels of the Department of Justice, up to and including Attorney General Bondi, were aware of and understood they were bound by this Rule,” and clarified that the rule in question provides prosecutors or their employees “not to release or authorize the release of … opinion that a reasonable person would expect 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 the dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the true administration of justice.”
Judge Garnett has given prosecutors until October 3 to explain how these apparent violations occurred and what measures they plan to take to prevent further incidents. She also warned the deputy attorney general that additional breaches could lead to sanctions, including financial penalties or contempt of court findings.
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