Lawyers for the man accused of assassinating the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, asked a federal judge on Friday to let them investigate whether the Justice Department and company officials have cooperated to “malign and prejudice” their client.
The request is the latest turn in a festering dispute that began after Trump administration officials said repeatedly that the man, Luigi Mangione is guilty. The judge in the case has said the comments may violate her order prohibiting the parties from making statements that could affect Mr. Mangione’s ability to receive a fair trial.
Mr. Mangione faces a murder charge in the killing of the chief executive, Brian Thompson, who was gunned down last December shortly before an investors’ meeting at a Midtown Manhattan hotel. Mr. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a potential death penalty.
When Mr. Mangione was arrested a few days after the killing, the authorities said he was carrying writings denouncing the “parasitic” U.S. insurance industry and the nation’s system of for-profit health care.
His lawyers asked in their filing on Friday that the judge, Margaret Garnett of Federal District Court in Manhattan, allow them to seek evidence related to reported discussions between UnitedHealthcare’s parent, UnitedHealth Group, and administration officials.
The lawyers cited a recent Wall Street Journal article that said that UnitedHealth Group’s chief executive, Stephen J. Hemsley, had met with President Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, “to discuss Medicare and other issues.” (The Journal has also reported that UnitedHealth was facing a criminal investigation into a key Medicare business.)
“UnitedHealth’s continued financial viability depends upon maintaining the narrative that Mr. Mangione — rather than the company or its business practices — is the villain,” Mr. Mangione’s lawyers wrote. They said they wanted to determine whether the “other issues” mentioned in the Journal article “precipitated coordinated efforts by the White House and the Department of Justice to malign and prejudice Mr. Mangione.”
A UnitedHealthcare spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for the Justice Department.
Mr. Mangione’s lawyers, led by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, also argued in the filing that the government had not answered a question Judge Garnett had posed earlier: How did two Justice Department officials came to make social media posts about Mr. Mangione’s guilt given her directive that the parties not speak publicly about the case.
The defense lawyers asked the judge to order the government to turn over internal government documents, emails and other communications “that will answer the question.”
The latest chapter in the dispute began last month when Mr. Trump told Fox News that Mr. Mangione “shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me.” A social media account affiliated with the White House posted the statement, which a Justice Department spokesman, Chad Gilmartin, reposted with the added comment that the president “is absolutely right.”
Two days later, another Justice Department official reposted the statement on his account.
Judge Garnett issued the directive that the parties not discuss the case in late April, after a flurry of statements by Attorney General Pam Bondi about the government’s decision to seek capital punishment.
The judge told the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan to convey her order about refraining from public commentary to Ms. Bondi and her subordinates at the Justice Department.
Last month, after the two Justice Department officials posted Mr. Trump’s statement on social media, Judge Garnett requested the explanation for how that had happened. She said future violations could result in sanctions or other penalties.
The U.S. attorney’s office responded on Oct. 8, arguing that the two officials who made the posts were not members of the prosecution team; did not report to the prosecutors; and had no “operational role” in the case.
As a result, the office said, the statements had not violated court rules because they were made by persons “not associated with this matter.” The office also said that upon becoming aware of the posts, the department promptly directed that they be removed.
Hurubie Meko contributed reporting.
Benjamin Weiser is a Times reporter covering the federal courts and U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, and the justice system more broadly.
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