Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Cite Trump’s Posts in Attempt to Toss Case
Lawyers for UnitedHealthcare CEO Luigi Mangione’s alleged killer cited President Donald Trump’s own social media posts in court Friday to argue that the entire case should be dismissed, or at least the death penalty should be taken off the table.
Mangione’s defense team has argued that the Trump administration is using its client as a “a pawn to advance his political agenda,” and that DOJ officials’ statements and rebroadcasts have completely tarnished his right to a fair trial.
On September 18, Trump said in a Fox News interview that Mangione looked like a “pure assassin.”
“He shot someone in the back as clearly as you were looking at me…He shot him right in the middle of the back, instantly dead….It’s a disease. It really needs to be studied and studied.”
Everything Trump said was just an allegation.
.@POTUS on deranged Luigi Mangione fans: “He shot someone in the back as clearly as you were looking at me… He shot him right in the middle of the back – he died instantly… it’s a disease. This really needs to be studied and studied.” pic.twitter.com/lbsEsgkrbQ
– Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 18, 2025
An excerpt from the interview was job by White House Social Media Team Quick Response 47. Justice Department public affairs chief Chad Gilmartin retweeted it, commenting that the president was “absolutely right,” violating the judge’s explicit orders that Justice Department employees refrain from publicly commenting on the case.
“The Department of Justice and the White House coordinated to cultivate and disseminate negative public rhetoric deliberately designed to taint the pool of potential jurors,” defense attorneys Karen Agnifilo and Avi Moskowitz said. said the court. “The significance of these damaging statements is that they have life and death consequences for Mr. Mangione.”
The Justice Department tried to argue that Trump’s statements were irrelevant given that he was not connected to the case, but the defense pointed to the president’s growing control over the DOJ.
“Unlike all its predecessors since the Watergate era, the Justice Department did not act independently of the White House in this matter – or in several others,” the defense filing reads. “This departure from the long-standing principle of prosecutorial independence has created a blurred and constitutionally troubling boundary between the Department of Justice and the Executive Office of the President. »
Prosecutors also argued that potential jurors had enough time between now and Mangione’s trial to forget Trump’s statements. Mangione’s lawyers disagreed.
“The government engaged in deliberate, repeated, and unlawful actions specifically intended to harm Mr. Mangione’s chances of obtaining a fair trial and due process and as part of a broader government effort to advance a political agenda,” they said. “These same officials – whether acting directly or through their subordinates – continued on this path even after this Court explicitly ordered them not to make this case any different from all previous death penalty cases. »
Mangione remains in custody in a Brooklyn jail awaiting his trial date.
