India, Dec. 21 -- Luigi Mangione's defense team has escalated their legal battle by urging the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to step aside from the federal prosecution, citing her past connections with a lobby firm linked to UnitedHealthcare.

In the new court filing, Mangione's defense asserted that Bondi's involvement creates a "profound" conflict of interest.

The motion was filed on December 19, ahead of the scheduled January 9 hearing in Manhattan federal court. The federal prosecutors are pursuing capital punishment.

Mangione's attorney claims that Bondi's decision to direct federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against their client is compromised by her former work as a partner at Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm that h...