CEO killing: Judge warns Justice Department could be sanctioned for comments regarding alleged CEO shooter Luigi Mangione

A Manhattan federal judge warned the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday it could be sanctioned for statements made by Attorney General Pamela Bondi and other high-ranking federal officials regarding Luigi Mangione, the Maryland man accused of killing a health care executive last year in Manhattan, which may have violated the court’s directives.

Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who successfully argued to drop two state terrorism charges against her client last week, submitted a brief late Tuesday arguing that statements made by Bondi and President Donald Trump in September undermine Mangione’s ability to get a fair trial.

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett wrote in her response on Wednesday: "It appears from this letter that multiple employees at the Department of Justice may have violated Local Criminal Rule 23."

Local Criminal Rule 23, also known as the "Free Press — Fair Trial Directives," bars prosecutors and defense lawyers from opining on the guilt or innocence of the accused in a criminal trial or the merits of the case.

In April, Bondi issued a news release announcing the Justice Department would be seeking the death penalty in the case, calling the killing a "premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America."

The judge said she had issued an order on April 25 outlining the gag order 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."

Garnett said that recent comments had violated that rule.

"The statements referenced in the Sept. 23 letter by two high-ranking staff members of the Department of Justice, including within the Office of Attorney General, appear to be in direct violation of this Rule and the Court’s April 25 Order," Garnett said.

The judge directed federal prosecutors to submit a sworn declaration by a Justice Department official "of suitable authority" explaining the alleged violation by Oct. 3.

"The government is also directed to advise the Deputy Attorney General, for dissemination within the department as appropriate, that 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 did not directly address the president’s comments.

Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, was indicted on federal charges in Manhattan of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in protest of the company’s health insurance policies. His lawyers also filed a brief last week, asking a judge to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in the case.

Mangione also stands accused in New York State Court for the Dec. 4 killing of Thompson. He was arrested in an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s after employees recognized him from police photos. Authorities say he was carrying a fake New Jersey driver’s license, a 9 mm handgun, silencer and ammunition in his backpack. The bag also contained notebooks with a letter addressed to federal authorities explaining that he targeted the executive because of the health insurer’s policies, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty in both New York cases.

In a Sept. 18 Fox News interview, Trump said 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," according to the defense lawyer’s brief.

Four days later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to Mangione as a "left-wing assassin [who] shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson right in the back in New York City."

In the Sept. 22 briefing, Leavitt announced that the left-wing group Antifa would be designated a terrorist group, citing Mangione’s case.

The next day, Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, said in a Fox News interview, "Of course, the health care CEO was brutally gunned down by another self-described so-called anti-fascist that was then celebrated by other self-described anti-fascists, so of course, really communist revolutionaries."

The defense lawyer denied that her client has any connection to Antifa or any other left-leaning political ideology and said that these statements have hurt her client’s chances of a fair trial.

"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," Friedman Agnifilo wrote to the judge.

Additionally, she said that the Manhattan federal court’s directives prohibit statements that would likely "prejudice the due administration of justice" in the period leading up to a criminal trial.

"Accordingly, this Justice Department is knowingly and intentionally in violation of this Court’s Order by continuing to make false and damaging statements in this death penalty case," the defense lawyer said.

The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to calls for comment.