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Federal prosecutors told a judge on Wednesday that their chances for a fair trial were not harmed after two US Justice Department officials reposted potentially inflammatory comments. donald trump made about luigi mangione When he was accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare ceo,
He said in a written submission manhattan The federal court said the two staffers were not working on the case and were not aware that the judge had warned lawyers to be careful about what they shared publicly. He said he has since been warned.
And he said the distance from the trial date, which has not yet been set, makes it even less likely that anything said publicly could influence potential jurors who will be selected to hear the case.
“These individuals are not members of the prosecution team, or trial attorneys or staff supervised by the prosecution team, or otherwise employed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District. new yorkNor are they law enforcement agents working on this prosecution, prosecutors wrote.
“They operate entirely outside the scope of the prosecution team, have no operational role in the investigation or prosecutorial functions of the Mangione case, and are not ‘affiliated’ with this case,” he said.
Requests for comment were referred to Mangione’s defense attorneys.
Judge Margaret M. Garnett said last month that officials broke court rules governing the conduct of prosecutors by reposting Trump’s comments. He asked the department to explain how the violation occurred and what steps were taken to prevent recurrence.
On September 18, Trump was on Fox News when he called Mangione “a pure killer.”
“He shot somebody in the back, as you see me clearly,” Trump said. “He shot him right in the middle of the back, killing him instantly.”
A video clip of Trump’s comments was then posted by the White House on the social platform X.
Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin reposted the comment, saying “@POTUS is absolutely right.” Gilmartin’s post, which was later removed, was reposted by Associate Deputy Attorney General Brian Nieves.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4 fatal shooting of Brian Thompson as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Earlier in September, Mangione’s defense attorneys requested that his federal charges be dismissed and that the death sentence be dropped as a result of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s public comments.
He later told the judge that the government was prejudicing his client’s right to a fair trial by reposting Trump’s comments on social media.
Bondy had declared before his April indictment that he needed the death penalty for his “premeditated, cold-blooded murder that shocked America”. Bondi announced in April that she was instructing Manhattan federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.
In the federal case, Mangione is charged with murder by use of a firearm, which carries a possible death penalty, as well as stalking and gun crimes.