A former Florida Republican congressional candidate has been indicted on federal charges after a The recording exposed him for threatening to kill a Republican rival. with squads of Ukrainian and Russian hitmen.
William Braddock, 41, was recorded saying that if it looked like his rival Anna Paulina Luna was going to win the Republican primary for the District 13 congressional seat, which she ultimately did, he would eliminate her.
According to the indictment, Braddock allegedly threatened to “call my Russian-Ukrainian squad” and make his main opponent “disappear.”
Shortly after recording, Braddock abandoned the career and fled the United States. He was later discovered to be living in the Philippines, according to the indictment.
Braddock was recently deported and made his initial court appearance Thursday in Los Angeles.
William Braddock, a former Republican congressional candidate from Florida, has been indicted on federal charges after a recording exposed him threatening to kill his political rival with squads of Ukrainian and Russian hitmen.
Luna’s aides could not immediately comment as they dealt with recovery efforts related to Hurricane Helene, which hit Florida with destructive force.
Florida newspaper reports at the time about a related civil trial described alleged threats by Braddock against Luna.
“I really don’t want to have to end anyone’s life for the sake of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said in a conversation in 2021.
‘That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a fucking obstacle in the way. It’s a dead squirrel that you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.
Braddock said his “polling people” were going to charge him $20,000 to do a poll before the Republican primary.
‘And if the poll says Luna is going to win, she will leave. ‘She’s going to disappear,’ he said in the recording. “For the good of our country, we have to sacrifice a few… For the good of the majority of the people, we have to sacrifice a few.”
The Tampa Bay Times had reported In 2021, Luna, who ran for the seat in 2020 and lost to Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, had filed a harassment injunction against Braddock.
‘I received information yesterday (at midnight) about a plan (with a timeline) to assassinate me drawn up by William Braddock in an effort to prevent me from winning the election for FL-13,’ Luna wrote in the petition.
Braddock, 41, was recorded saying that if it looked like his rival Anna Paulina Luna (pictured) was going to win the Republican primary for the District 13 congressional seat, which she ultimately did, he would eliminate her.
Florida newspaper reports at the time about a related civil trial described alleged threats by Braddock against Luna.
In the document she also accused her 2020 main rival, Amanda Makki, and Matt Tito, who is considering jumping in 2022, of being involved in a plot to ‘eliminate’ her.
Another woman, a nurse turned conservative COVID-19 whistleblower, Erin Olszewski, also filed an injunction against Braddock.
Olszewski was the woman who gave Politico a recording of a phone conversation she had with Braddock where she said he made the threats.
In it, Braddock makes confusing statements about having access to suspected killers.
He said he would receive help from fellow Freemasons to finance the plot and would also import millions from Malta and Gibraltar.
“I also have access to a squad of hitmen, Ukrainians and Russians,” he said, warning Olszewski, “not to get caught in public supporting Luna… Luna is going down and I hope it’s alone.”
Politico contacted Braddock via text message, where he declined to say whether he threatened Luna or mentioned the Ukrainian and Russian death squads.
He told the publication that it was supposedly me… there’s no proof of that,” saying the recording “may even be altered and edited.”
Anna Paulina Luna received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump for her run for the House of Representatives in 2020. Here she appears at a Make America Great Again rally in Tampa days before the election.
“This is a dirty political tactic that has caused a lot of stress to a lot of people and is completely unnecessary,” he said.
Olszewski denied tampering with the recording and said he recorded it because of his “unhinged” dislike of Luna, who had been endorsed in the last election cycle by embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz and former President Donald Trump.
Olszewski turned over the June 9 recording to St. Petersburg police and informed Luna, who then filed the harassment warrant against Braddock.
If convicted, Braddock faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.
The indictment comes at a time when the Justice Department is trying to clamp down on threats against election workers in the run-up to November’s presidential and congressional elections.
