A Manhattan federal judge just dropped a bombshell on the Justice Department for running their mouths about Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of a chilling murder.
New York Post reported that in a courtroom drama unfolding in Manhattan, Judge Margaret Garrett has put the DOJ on notice for potentially sabotaging Mangione’s federal case with public statements and social media chatter that could bias a jury.
Mangione, charged with the cold-blooded killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a major investor conference, has pleaded not guilty to both federal and state charges.
The federal government isn’t playing around, seeking the death penalty for Mangione, but Judge Garrett warned on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, that DOJ officials’ loose lips might sink this ship before it even sails.
Two high-ranking DOJ staffers caught the judge’s ire for social media posts that seem to flout court rules designed to keep jury pools untainted by pre-trial hype.
DOJ spokesman Chad Gilmartin posted on X on September 19, 2025, echoing a Fox News clip of President Trump discussing Mangione’s alleged crime, only to have his post reposted the next day by Brian Nieves, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Gilmartin’s post, since deleted, crowed, “POTUS is absolutely right,” but one has to wonder if the DOJ forgot that courtrooms, not Twitter, are where justice gets hashed out.
Judge Garrett didn’t mince words, calling these posts a “direct violation” of court rules and warning that future slip-ups could lead to fines or other measures against the prosecution.
She even signed an order ensuring U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi gets the memo on keeping public statements about Mangione and other defendants under wraps.
Meanwhile, Mangione’s legal team is fuming over White House comments, like Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt labeling him a “left-wing assassin” during a briefing on September 22, 2025, arguing it jeopardizes his right to a fair trial.
A White House press release that same day went further, tying Mangione to “Radical Left violence” and branding Antifa a domestic terrorist group, which feels like a political sledgehammer in a case needing surgical precision.
Mangione’s lawyers, in a letter to the court late on September 23, 2025, accused the government of prejudicing their client by linking him to unrelated violence and extremist groups without a shred of evidence.
The defense’s frustration is palpable, and it’s hard to argue they don’t have a point when government officials seem more interested in scoring political points than preserving courtroom integrity.
With the DOJ staying mum on the judge’s warning as of September 24, 2025, they’ve got until October 3, 2025, to respond in court papers, while Mangione’s next federal court date looms on December 5, 2025, with no trial date yet set.
