Mangione Seeks Information About UnitedHealth’s Contact With Trump

Lawyers for the man accused of assassinating the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, asked a federal judge on Friday to let them investigate whether the Justice Department and company officials have cooperated to “malign and prejudice” their client.

The request is the latest turn in a festering dispute that began after Trump administration officials said repeatedly that the man, Luigi Mangione is guilty. The judge in the case has said the comments may violate her order prohibiting the parties from making statements that could affect Mr. Mangione’s ability to receive a fair trial.

Mr. Mangione faces a murder charge in the killing of the chief executive, Brian Thompson, who was gunned down last December shortly before an investors’ meeting at a Midtown Manhattan hotel. Mr. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a potential death penalty.

When Mr. Mangione was arrested a few days after the killing, the authorities said he was carrying writings denouncing the “parasitic” U.S. insurance industry and the nation’s system of for-profit health care.

His lawyers asked in their filing on Friday that the judge, Margaret Garnett of Federal District Court in Manhattan, allow them to seek evidence related to reported discussions between UnitedHealthcare’s parent, UnitedHealth Group, and administration officials.

The lawyers cited a recent Wall Street Journal article that said that UnitedHealth Group’s chief executive, Stephen J. Hemsley, had met with President Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, “to discuss Medicare and other issues.” (The Journal has also reported that UnitedHealth was facing a criminal investigation into a key Medicare business.)