The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan has been recused from Luigi Mangione’s case.
“The Government also writes to inform the Court that United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, is recused from this matter,” attorneys from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a letter to Judge Margaret Garnett on Wednesday.
Newsweek has contacted the district for comment via email. Mangione’s attorneys have also been contacted for comment via email. Luigi Mangione in court
Mangione, 26, is facing federal and state charges in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel in December.
He pleaded not guilty to a federal murder charge last Friday. Federal prosecutors have declared their intent to seek the death penalty. Mangione pleaded not guilty to state murder and terrorism charges in December.
The letter did not explain why Clayton recused from the case, but said that Perry Carbone, the district’s criminal division chief, will serve as the attorney for the United States in the case.
“Mr. Carbone has conveyed the same to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, which confirmed that it will in turn notify the Attorney General,” the letter said.
President Donald Trump announced in April that Clayton, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, would serve as interim U.S. attorney for Southern District of New York while the administration pursues Senate confirmation for him to serve in the role full-time.
Wednesday’s letter also amended an earlier letter to Garnett that described the handling of a recorded jail call between Mangione and his attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo.
The earlier letter has said that a paralegal at the New York County District Attorney’s Office (DANY) had “immediately stopped listening” to the call after recognizing it as an attorney call.
“In fact, the paralegal listened to the entire call, then subsequently informed DANY prosecutors about the identities of the people with whom the defendant spoke,” Wednesday’s letter said.
“DANY thereafter handled the matter as described in our previous letter. Moreover, DANY notified defense counsel of these facts in an email, dated April 22, 2025, thus, counsel was aware of this information prior to arraignment.”
Mangione is next due in federal court on December 5. His next appearance in the state case is set for June 26.
No trial date has been set in either case, but his defense team have said they want the federal case to take precedent because it involves the death penalty.
What is all this about listening in on calls between defendant and lawyer. Sounds very sus but im not knowledgeably enough about legal stuff to really understand it.
Phone calls in prison are recorded. Luigi needs to use prison phones to talk to his lawyer. So his phone calls with his lawyer were recorded. The content of those calls is guarded by attorney client privilege, and the prosecutor can’t legally access them… Except the prosecutor 100% accessed them, and listened in.
As soon as the prosecutor fessed up to knowing anything about the content of those calls, it threw a giant wrench in the works for the courts, because everything the prosecutor has done so far (or does in the future) is potentially tainted by the knowledge from those calls. Luigi could 100% use that to try and appeal if he’s convicted, citing the fact that his attorney client privilege was breached. And if that appeal works, then any evidence gained as a result of that privileged info would also be tossed out. So the prosecutor was recused, meaning they’re basically being removed from the trial.
It also confused me at first. Here’s what i (not an expert) make of it: sounds like mangione and his lawyer had a phone call which should have been private. The district attorney probably was listening to mangiones other calls, and this attorney call was recorded or handed over to district attorney in error. The district attorney initially said they immediately stopped listening once they recognized it was an attorney call, but they actually listened to the entire thing which is a huge violation of attorney-client privilege
Stuff like that should be grounds for a mistrial
Mistrials aren’t generally automatic. One side or the other has to submit a motion. I’d guess the defense doesn’t want a mistrial because that would only delay things even further and it’s already going to drag on forever.
The defense attorneys would know that Mangione’s personal calls are being monitored by default. They’d also know that even if the prosecution intentionally listened in to their privileged conversation, which they’re not supposed to do, nothing they hear can be used or submitted in court.
Edit: I haven’t been following this case but apparently they haven’t empaneled yet so I don’t think they can even motion for a mistrial. Maybe this would be prosecutorial misconduct and that’s why there’s the change in prosecutor?
That is not the problem here. The problem is that they could come up with things they “had an idea” to investigate and claim it didn’t come from the call. It also means that they cannot speak openly with each other, which inhibits their defense and thus infringes upon the right to due process.
I understand why it’s not good that a paralegal made a mistake and overheard a privileged conversation. I was offering a potential insight into rationale the defense maybe applied in deciding not to motion for a mistrial.
I’m not an attorney myself but I have to believe any attorney willing to take this case would be smart enough to be very cautious about their phone conversations with anybody incarcerated.
haha good one
If only the system wasn’t completely corrupt in favor of the kind of people Luigi definitely didn’t shoot.
“In favor”? It’s their system. 😅
He needs to be acquitted. Cops/prosecutors can’t illegally collect evidence (in theory). Charges are dropped when it’s proven in court.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but due process has been thrown out the window in the United States.
Also, Mangione has committed the most terrible of all crimes: he attacked corporate America. He will be spared nothing.
Allegedly. Also he’s a hero
Yeah… That’s cute, but if people truly believed there was any doubt that he did it, there wouldn’t be the wave of support and enthusiasm he unwittingly created.
The general public aren’t investigators. The burden of proof is pretty low when you’re looking for someone to rally behind. People would rally behind anyone the government dragged out, regardless of how legitimate the case was. Even if he turns out to be innocent, he’ll still be a symbol because of his association and how the government has gone after him.
Agreed.
All I was saying was, no need to say Allegedly here. People who patronize Luigi Mangione forums have a pretty good idea who they think did it, they actually agree with what they think he did, and there isn’t much point in reminding them that Luigi is technically innocent until proven guilty.
Oh well… At least Luigi will have his day in court, unlike the poor sods who were shipped off to Salvadorian concentration camps without due process by the Trump regime. In this weird day and age, Luigi might be luckier than most in that his constitutional rights will be respected.
We say alleged because in civilization, you’re innocent until proven guilty.
Which civilization is that, exactly? How long ago are we talking here?
Only because they want to make an example of him. The immigrants they just don’t care about at all, all they want is them dead or gone, whichever comes first.
People don’t seem to have much actual doubt he did it, but that doesn’t actually mean those people are correct in their certainty. I’m not sure how strong the actual evidence involved is, but it’s been very widely reported that he was responsible, and that’s going to make him seem guilty to the average person regardless of if there is enough evidence to warrant that or not.
It’s not that he didn’t do it, it’s that what he did, is not, and should not be considered a crime. He protected his own life, and the lives of countless others by eliminating a serial killer. Not only that, but he did it in a manner that was relatively humane and didn’t put bystanders or public property in danger.
Self defense is not a crime. Saving another person from an unjust death is not a crime.
He knew exactly what he was doing. The next revolution wont be televised, it will be live streamed. If they convict him, NYC, DC, and Palm Beach will burn to the ground, to name a few
The turtles’d appreciate that, no lie.
Palm beach if not only for the insurance money lmao
There’s a little thing called “attorney-client privilege” which is something that is supposed to be honored. I was curious and looked up the docket entries. So I guess the recorded call was on the regular line for the detention center where it does warn users it’s a pre-recorded line. MDC (Metropolitan Detention Center) is supposed to filter out any numbers that are identified in advance as attorney numbers, but allegedly this number was not identified ahead of time as being an attorney number and thus the recording inadvertently provided to DANY. There are also other ways inmates can communicate with attorneys via non recorded lines, one involves filling out a form the other is through reserved rooms. Who knows though if those are readily accessible or atleast as easily as the monitored lines.