NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Public statements by

Justice Department officials about Luigi Mangione, the man

charged with killing an insurance executive last year, violated

a court rule meant to protect criminal defendants against

publicity that could prejudice a jury pool against them, the

judge overseeing the case said on Wednesday.

In a written order, Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge

Margaret Garnett instructed prosecutors to advise Deputy

Attorney General Todd Blanche to tell other Justice Department

officials that any further violations could result in

punishments including financial penalties or contempt of court.

Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering

Brian Thompson, the former chief executive of UnitedHealth

Group's ( UNH ) insurance unit. Federal prosecutors are seeking

the death penalty in his case.

Garnett's order came after Mangione's defense lawyers in a

Tuesday night court filing said statements made by several Trump

administration officials had jeopardized his chances of getting

a fair trial.

They pointed to a Justice Department spokesperson's

September 19 X post referencing a comment President Donald Trump

made in a September 18 interview with Fox News asserting that

Mangione "shot someone in the back as clear as you're looking at

me."

"POTUS is absolutely right," the spokesperson, Chad

Gilmartin, said in the since-deleted post.

Mangione's lawyers also pointed to White House Press

Secretary Karoline Leavitt calling Mangione a "left-wing

assassin" in a September 22 news conference.

Neither the Justice Department nor the White House

immediately responded to requests for comment.