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A former Republican candidate for Congress in Florida has been charged with threatening to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” to make his political rival “disappear.”
A damning indictment from the Department of Justice – unsealed on Thursday – alleges that William Robert Braddock III, 41, made several threats to “injure and kill” Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna during a 2021 telephone call with a conservative activist.
At the time, Luna and Braddock were going head-to-head in the Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District of Florida seat. Luna went on to win the primary and, ultimately, the congressional seat.
In the clandestine recording of the call, which surfaced in 2021, Braddock is allegedly heard explaining how he could take out Luna.
“I call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad and within 24 hours they are sending me pictures of her disappearing. “No, I’m not joking”, he allegedly says.
“I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America. 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.”
In the call, obtained by Politico, Braddock goes on to brand Luna “a piece of s***.”
At the time, Luna filed for a restraining order against Braddock, accusing him of “stalking” and making death threats. She claimed to have received text messages that revealed Braddock wanted to “take me out”, The Associated Press reported at the time.
Braddock – who moved to the Philippines after dropping out of the race – has now been extradited to the US and charged with a count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person.
He appeared in federal district court in Los Angeles on Thursday September 26.
Luna is named only as “Victim 1” in the federal DOJ document while the acquaintance on the other end of the phone is known as “Victim 2.”
The charges against Braddock come at a time of growing threats of political violence with Donald Trump having survived two assassination attempts in the space of two months this summer.
If convicted, Braddock faces up to five years in jail.
The Independent contacted Anna Paulina Luna’s office for comment.
