NEW YORK — A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday said Trump administration officials “appear to be in direct violation” of her order warning against making prejudicial comments about Luigi Mangione during his death penalty case, demanding an explanation and threatening sanctions.

Manhattan Federal Judge Margaret Garnett’s order came after Mangione’s lawyers flagged comments recently made about their client by President Donald Trump and top administration officials, who they said had continued to hinder Mangione’s right to a fair trial, casting him as a “left-wing” terrorist in violation of an order she issued in April — and despite the Maryland man facing no terrorism charges.

Last week, amid rising tensions over the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and threats to crack down on left-wing groups, Trump went on Fox News and described Mangione, accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, as though he had been convicted of the crimes to which he’s pleaded not guilty.

Trump said Mangione had “shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me…he shot him right in the middle of the back – instantly dead,” Mangione’s lawyers detailed in late-night filings Tuesday

Chad Gilmartin, the deputy director of the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs who works for AG Pam Bondi’s office, shared a clip with the caption “@POTUS is absolutely right,” and later deleted it. Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff at the DOJ, shared Gilmartin’s post.

“The statements referenced in the September 23 letter by two high-ranking staff members of the Department of Justice, including within the Office of the Attorney General, appear to be in direct violation” of a rule against such comments and Garnett’s related Apr. 25 order, Garnett wrote Wednesday.

The video player is currently playing an ad. Garnett ordered the government to provide a sworn declaration explaining how the violations occurred and what preventative steps would be taken, raising the possibility of sanctions and unfavorable rulings in their case against Mangione. She said she also wanted confirmation that the message had been communicated to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

President Donald Trump discusses Luigi Mangione during an appearance on Fox News. (Court Document) Bondi, on April 1, announced via a Justice Department press release that the feds would pursue the death penalty against Mangione, weeks before formally notifying the court of their intent to seek the steepest form of punishment.

When Mangione’s lawyers complained about the remarks that could be read by jurors Garnett directed Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to inform Bondi to safeguard the integrity of proceedings from potentially damaging public comments.

Trump’s Justice Department is “knowingly and intentionally” violating that order, Mangione’s attorneys said in their Tuesday filing.

Mangione, who is facing both state and federal cases in Manhattan tied to Thompson’s December 2024 killing, was also referenced in an official White House news release on Monday announcing the designation of “Antifa,” which is not a group, but an ideology that opposes fascism, as a domestic terrorist organization. The release was titled: “President Trump isn’t backing down from crushing radical left violence.”

Karen Friedman Agnifilo and members of Mangione’s defense team told Garnett that the recent high-profile assassination of Kirk, which Trump and his Republican allies have sought to blame on the left, had seen them ratchet up harmful rhetoric.

“The Government has indelibly prejudiced Mr. Mangione by baselessly linking him to unrelated violent events, and left-wing extremist groups, despite there being no connection or affiliation. A recent, tragic, high-profile murder has only increased this prejudicial rhetoric,” they wrote.

They said the portrayals of Mangione by the seniormost members of government were false and part of a political narrative “that has no place in any criminal case, especially one where the death penalty is at stake.”

“Mr. Mangione in fact does not support these violent actions, does not condone past or future political violence, nor is he in any way aligned with the group mentioned in the White House press release,” they wrote.

Federal prosecutors have charged Mangione with the capital offense of murder through the use of a firearm, two stalking counts, and firearm possession. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges handed up on December 19 following his dramatic extradition to New York from Pennsylvania. In lengthy filings on Friday, Mangione’s lawyers argued against the government’s ability to seek the death penalty.

Parallel to his federal prosecution, Mangione is also facing state charges being tried by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. Mangione is accused in that case of second-degree murder, multiple firearm offenses, and criminal possession of a forged instrument for allegedly carrying a fake ID, to which he’s pleaded not guilty.

Justice Gregory Carro, presiding over the state court case, on Tuesday threw out the top two charges in the indictment Bragg’s office filed in December, which accused Mangione of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism. The ruling meant Mangione no longer faces the prospect of life without parole in Bragg’s case.

Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two teen boys from Minnesota, was shot dead in the street as he arrived early to an annual investor conference outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown on Dec. 4. Shell casings recovered at the scene bore the words: deny, delay, and defend, in seeming reference to health insurance companies routinely denying claims, court papers detail.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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