Luigi Mangione's lawyers slam Charlie Kirk comparisons made by Trump administration

A federal judge said Wednesday that President Trump and other administration officials may have violated the law with their recent public statements about Luigi Mangione.

A federal judge said Wednesday that President Donald Trump and other administration officials may have violated the law with their recent public statements about Luigi Mangione.

In a court filing, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett ordered the Justice Department to respond to a letter Mangione's lawyers sent Tuesday.

The letter accused the Trump administration of violating their client's right to a fair trial in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. Mangione's lawyers referred to several comments administration officials made about Mangione in the days after Kirk's killing, some by Trump.

"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," the letter reads. "A recent, tragic, high-profile murder has only increased this prejudicial rhetoric."

Kirk, a popular conservative activist and podcaster, was assassinated as he was speaking at an event on a college campus in Utah on Sept. 10. Commenters have compared the killing to other recent acts of political violence, including the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel in December.