Opponent of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna charged with threatening her in 2022 primary

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Opponent of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna charged with threatening her in 2022 primary

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A former *********** candidate for Congress in Florida has been charged with threatening to send a hit squad to ***** an opponent in the race, federal authorities said Friday.

William Braddock claimed in a recorded call with a local activist that he would send a Russian and Ukrainian hit squad to ***** Anna Paulina Luna during the 2022 primary for a seat in the Clearwater area,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Luna went on to win the seat in the general election.

Braddock, 41, was extradited from the Philippines, where he moved after the primary, on a charge of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. He made an initial appearance Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles.

The charges stem from the contentious *********** primary that was heating up after then Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) announced he was not going to run for reelection for his Pinellas County congressional seat.

POLITICO previously reported that a ************* activist recorded Braddock telling her to not support Luna — who had lost to Crist to 2020 — because he had access to assassins.

“I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the ******* States of America,” he said, according to the recording obtained at the time by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a ******** speed bump in the road. She’s a ***** squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”

At the time, Braddock denied to POLITICO via text to discuss the call and said he had not heard the recording. He also suggested the recording “may even be altered and edited.”

A judge later approved a temporary restraining order against him but did not grant a permanent injunction and local authorities declined to pursue charges. Pinellas-Pasco Executive Assistant State Attorney Kendall Davidson

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

back in 2021 that probable cause didn’t exist to file charges in the case because Braddock didn’t make the threat directly to Luna or her family and doesn’t have the reasonable ability to carry out the threat.

The Justice Department said that the FBI investigated the case along with the St. Petersburg Police Department as part of the department’s election threats task force.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

that Braddock had been arrested by authorities in Philippines in conjunction with the FBI. He faces up to five years in prison.

Luna, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, would go on to win the GOP primary in 2022 and win the congressional seat outright. She is running for reelection in the district, which includes a part of the state that experienced the effects of Hurricane Helene. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Opponent #Rep #Anna #Paulina #Luna #charged #threatening #primary

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up