Luigi Mangione‘s defense believes they’ve learned the real reason why Attorney General Pam Bondi is seeking the death penalty in his case as the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — she’s got deep ties to the company.

In a new court filing obtained by TMZ … Luigi’s team notes Bondi was a partner at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners — which lists UnitedHealth Group as a client — before she became AG. And, they say Bondi is still raking in personal and financial benefits from Ballard in the form of a profit-sharing plan from Ballard’s professional association with the insurance company.

They argue this is a major conflict of interest she should have been fully aware of … and it’s certainly fishy the very first defendant she personally selected to be executed was the man accused of killing the CEO of her former client. His team says she should have immediately recused herself from making any decisions on this case and that her failure to do so “clearly violated” Mangione’s right to a due process rights.

His defense says this is just one of the many reasons her notice of intent to seek the death penalty should therefore be stricken.

As you know, the 27-year-old is accused of gunning down Thompson in December 2024 and then changing his story with police before they arrested him at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The bodycam footage of the ordeal was released earlier this month … and also shows him giving authorities a fake ID.