The DOJ charged Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s 2022 primary opponent, William Braddock, with threatening to kill her.
Holy moly. I forgot this happened! From the DOJ (emphasis mine):
According to the indictment, William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, and Victim 1 were candidates in the primary election to represent the 13th Congressional District of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. Victim 2 was a private citizen and acquaintance of Victim 1. On June 8, 2021, Braddock made several threats to injure and kill Victim 1 and Victim 2 during a telephone call with Victim 2. Specifically, Braddock threatened, in part, to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and make Victim 1 disappear. After making the threats, Braddock left the United States and was later found to be residing in the Philippines. Braddock was recently deported from the Philippines to the United States and made his first court appearance yesterday in Los Angeles.Braddock is charged with one count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. If convicted, Braddock faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Politico published the phone call in 2021. Braddock told Victim 2, conservative activist Erin Olszewski, not to support Luna in the primary.
“I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said at one point in the conversation last week, according to the recording exclusively obtained by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f—ing speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”
Braddock wouldn’t tell Politico if he made the threats against Luna despite having it on a recording:
Asked repeatedly via text if he mentioned Russian-Ukrainian hit squads, Braddock wouldn’t give a yes or no answer, saying he had not heard the recording and that it’s “allegedly me … there is no proof of that.” He also suggested the recording “may even be altered and edited.”“This is a dirty political tactic that has caused a lot of people a lot of stress and is completely unnecessary,” he said.
Olszewski denied altering or clipping the recording.
Olszewski said she recorded Braddock due to previous conversations with him. She described him as “unhinged” when talking about Luna.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY