Federal prosecutors are pushing back on claims that online posts from Trump administration officials could jeopardize the prosecution of Luigi Magione, who was charged for the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, NBC News reported Thursday.
An attorney for Mangione told NBC News Thursday that, in regards to the allegations that the online posts could threaten their client’s chance at a fair trial, they would “be filing a letter with the court in short order.”
President Donald Trump weighed in on the case last month when he told Fox News that Mangione had “shot [Thompson] right in the middle of the back,” a claim that Mangione's attorneys argued inferred their client’s guilt.
Trump’s comments were parroted, however, by the White House-affiliated X account “Rapid Response 47,” which shared a video of Trump’s comments on Sept. 19 to its more than 1.2 million followers. That post was in turn shared by the DOJ’s public affairs office deputy director, Chad Gilmartin, who also wrote that Trump was “absolutely right” in regards to Mangione.
Now, federal prosecutors are attempting to downplay the severity of the Trump officials’ comments, petitioning the court on Wednesday to disregard them.
“They operate entirely outside the scope of the prosecution team, possess no operational role in the investigative or prosecutorial functions of the Mangione matter, and are not ‘associated’ with this litigation,” reads a filing from federal prosecutors submitted to the court on Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors also said that they had “promptly directed” the Trump officials to remove the online posts after they had become aware of their existence.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against him, which include first- and second-degree murder, along with criminal possession of a weapon. A judge recently dismissed terrorism charges against Mangione after arguing that they were “legally insufficient.”