Luigi Mangione’s lawyers say Bondi’s death penalty decision was tainted by conflict of interest

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NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s lawyers contend that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s decision to seek the death penalty against him in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was tainted by her prior work as a lobbyist at a firm that represented the insurer’s parent company.

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Bondi was a partner at Ballard Partners before leading the Justice Department’s charge to turn Mangione’s federal prosecution into a capital case, creating a “profound conflict of interest” that violated his due process rights, his lawyers wrote in a court filing late Friday. They want prosecutors barred from seeking the death penalty and some charges thrown out. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9.

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By involving herself in the death penalty decision and making public statements suggesting that Mangione deserves execution, Bondi broke a vow she made before taking office in February that she would follow ethical regulations and bow out of matters pertaining to Ballard clients for a year, Mangione’s lawyers said.

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They argued Bondi has continued to profit from her work for Ballard — and, indirectly, from its work for UnitedHealth Group _ through a profit-sharing arrangement with the lobbying firm and a defined contribution plan it administers.

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The “very person” empowered to seek Mangione’s death “has a financial stake in the case she is prosecuting,” his lawyers wrote. Her conflict of interest “should have caused her to recuse herself from making any decisions on this case,” they added.

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Messages seeking comment were left for the Justice Department and Ballard Partners.

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Bondi announced in April that she was directing Manhattan federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, declaring even before Mangione was formally indicted that capital punishment was warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

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Thompson, 50, was killed Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

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Mangione, 27, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan. He has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges. The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison. Neither trial has been scheduled.

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Friday’s filing put the focus back on Mangione’s federal case a day after a marathon pretrial hearing ended in his fight to bar prosecutors in his state case from using certain evidence found during his arrest, such as a gun that police said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which he purportedly described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive. A ruling isn’t expected until May.