The year is 2021, and the Republican primary election is underway in Florida. Tensions are high, and one congressional candidate believes there is only one way to win. In June of 2021, former Congressional Candidate William Robert Braddock III, now 41, reportedly threatened to send “the Russia mafia” after his opponent. Today, he is facing charges for those threats.Â
Now-Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R) and Braddock were rivals in the 2021 Republican primary election when they ran for Florida’s 13th Congressional District. Over a phone call back in June of that year, Braddock told a contact of Luna’s, Erin Olszewski, that if he were not ahead in the predicted release poll, he would have to “sacrifice” his opponent.
According to The Washington Post, the charging documents states Braddock said “I will be the next congressman for this district. Period, end of discussion. I really don’t want to have to anybody’s life — end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America … ’cause it’ll break my heart. But, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done.”
According to Politico, Olszewski secretly recorded the conversation between her and Braddock, during in which he threatened to hire “a Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” to kill Luna. He went on to urge Olszewski to sever all ties with Luna and to avoid her all together. Braddock warned Olszewski against supporting Luna, stating that “if you’re near her when time comes, I just don’t want that to happen to you. You’ve got kids … so don’t be associated with [Luna] under any circumstances, please.”
In 2021, Luna testified in a Florida court that Braddock had not only threatened to harm and kill her but was also actively stalking her. Both she and Olszewski sought out protective orders against Braddock, accusing him of stalking them. Braddock denied the allegations. In September 2021, both women testified that they feared for their lives, according to Florida Politics.
“This man has put me through emotional hell. I think that he’s evil.”
-Anna Paulina Luna
According to the Independent, Braddock proceeded to invoke what he considered to be his Fifth Amendment right and declined to testify, resulting in the stalking charges being dropped. He then withdrew from the primary elections and moved to the Philippines before Luna won her seat in the 2022 midterms. Later, he was deported back to the United States and appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom last Thursday, facing charges for interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. If found guilty, Braddock could serve up to five years in prison.
Melvin Soto, a spokesperson for Luna, chose not to leave a comment on the indictment, instead stating that “Female members of Congress are disproportionately targeted for stalking, violence, and harassment compared to their male counterparts. This alarming trend points to a broader and more disturbing issue of violence in the political arena.”
Braddock refuses to leave a comment on the current indictment, and Luna is up for re-election on Nov. 5.Â