Mangione lawyers argue Bondi has conflict of interest in death penalty push

Lawyers for Luigi Mangione on Friday renewed and expanded their effort to have the death penalty thrown out in his case, arguing Attorney General Pam Bondi has a disqualifying financial conflict of interest.

In court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital, the defense argued that Bondi’s calls for the death penalty following Mangione’s arrest were improper because she was previously a partner at Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm that represented UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of slain CEO Brian Thompson.

The defense argues Bondi continues to receive financial benefits through Ballard’s profit-sharing plan and should have recused herself from any decision in the case.

“Her failure to do so clearly violated the due process rights of Mr. Mangione and provides yet another reason why the Notice of Intent should be stricken,” the filing states. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9.

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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 what she called a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

“The Attorney General personally directed line prosecutors to seek the death penalty in a public press release delivered via social media and then appeared on national television to claim that, based on her own experience as a capital crimes prosecutor, Mr. Mangione deserved to be executed,” the defense wrote in the Friday filing.

“This is a bell that can never be unrung,” the defense said.

Mangione’s attorneys further argued that when Bondi left Ballard Partners to become attorney general in 2025, the first defendant she “personally selected” for capital punishment was the man accused of killing the CEO of her former client.

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Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel where the company was hosting an investor conference. The execution-style shooting was caught on camera and prosecutors allege that Mangione targeted Thompson due to financial and corporate grievances. Mangione fled the scene but was captured days later.

This is not the first time Mangione’s defense has sought to have the death penalty thrown out.

In October, attorneys argued prosecutors could not pursue the death penalty because the underlying stalking charge does not qualify as a violent crime.

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Mangione’s lawyers first moved in early 2025 to block the death penalty, arguing the decision was political and prejudicial — not the result of a neutral DOJ review — and later filed a more detailed April motion seeking to strike the death-eligible counts, accusing Bondi of prejudging guilt through public statements, before centering the argument on an alleged financial conflict.

He is being represented by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a high-profile New York defense attorney who is also a former Manhattan prosecutor and former CNN legal analyst.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.