Federal prosecutors criticize Mangione lawyers in death-penalty dispute
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday criticized Luigi Mangione’s lawyers for making what they called “meritless” and “misleading” claims about Attorney General Pam Bondi’s lobbying connections and her push to pursue the death penalty in the federal case tied to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
In a court filing, Deputy Manhattan U.S. Attorney Sean Buckley said Mangione’s lawyers had incorrectly described Bondi’s relationship with Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm where she had worked as a former partner. The defense, Buckley wrote, had asserted that Bondi continued to receive income through an arrangement that the government said was no longer active.
Buckley said Bondi did have a 401(k) account through Ballard that reflected past, fully earned compensation. He also said the firm agreed to stop making contributions when she left Ballard Partners, describing the defense’s broader “financial conflict theory” as unsupported by any demonstrable benefit tied to the case.
“The defendant’s narrative collapses under the weight of his own assumptions, because a financial conflict theory requires a demonstrable financial benefit tethered to the litigation,” Buckley wrote. “Where no present or future financial gain exists, there is no conflict.”
Mangione’s legal team, led by husband-and-wife attorneys Karen Friedman-Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, has argued that Bondi’s prior lobbying work and her subsequent role in directing prosecutors to pursue death punishment created a constitutional conflict. They have asked Judge Margaret Garnett to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty and to rule on other defense requests, including efforts to pare down the case.
The dispute centers on questions of whether Bondi should have recused herself from decisions related to Mangione’s prosecution. Prosecutors, Buckley wrote, said Bondi had no ethical, statutory, or constitutional obligation to step aside, contending that Ballard Partners and the UnitedHealth Group companies are not parties to the criminal case.
Mangione’s lawyers first raised the Bondi-Ballard connection in a Dec. 19 filing, arguing that the “very person” empowered to seek Mangione’s death penalty had a financial stake in prosecuting him. They asked that prosecutors be barred from seeking capital punishment and also sought dismissal of some charges or other relief.
Buckley said Mangione’s lawyers also misconstrued a letter Bondi sent in January 2025. In the letter, Buckley said, Bondi pledged that as attorney general she would follow ethical regulations and would bow out of matters involving Ballard Partners or Ballard clients for a year. Buckley said the federal case at issue did not fall within what he described as any required recusal obligations because Ballard Partners and UnitedHealth Group entities were not parties.
Beyond the lobbying tie argument, the filing also took issue with the defense’s broader characterization of Bondi’s decision to pursue death penalty prosecution. Mangione’s attorneys have pointed to Bondi’s April announcement directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, which Bondi made ahead of a formal indictment, and they have argued that her conduct showed the decision was driven by politics rather than merit.
Buckley disputed those claims, writing that Bondi’s statements and other official actions did not create a required recusal. He also said Bondi’s actions did not make any “collateral reputational or emotional interest” on the part of UnitedHealth Group or Ballard Partners into a basis for treating them as parties.
The case against Mangione is tied to the Dec. 4, 2024, killing of Thompson as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind, and police said the ammunition had words written on it that mimicked a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, 27, was arrested five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles west of Manhattan. He has pleaded not guilty to both federal and state murder charges, with state charges carrying the possibility of life in prison. Neither trial has been scheduled.
For Friday’s hearing, Mangione’s attorneys are seeking to convince Judge Garnett to rule out capital punishment and narrow parts of the case, including requests to exclude evidence prosecutors say was found during his arrest. A ruling is not expected immediately, and the filing said attention has returned to the death-penalty fight after pretrial activity in the state case.