Earlier this week, Republican candidate to represent Florida's 13th District in the House of Representatives—Anna Paulina Luna—accused her Republican rival, William Braddock, of coordinating an attempt on her life.
Luna, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, said:
"I received information yesterday (at midnight) regarding a plan (with a timeline) to murder me made by William Braddock in an effort to prevent me from winning the election for FL-13."
Braddock fervently dismissed her claim, saying:
"This woman is off her rocker and she does not need to be representing anyone."
But a damning secret recording obtained by Politico on Thursday appears to vindicate Luna.
In a phone call with conservative activist Erin Olszewski, who was secretly recording the conversation, Braddock said that he had connections to a Russian-Ukrainian hit squad who could make Luna "disappear" if it looked like she was going to win. Braddock repeatedly told Olszewski that he was "dead serious."
Listen to the chilling recording below.
During a call that was recorded before he became a candidate, William Braddock repeatedly warned an activist to not support GOP candidate Anna Paulina Luna in the Republican primary for a Florida congressional seat because he had access to assassins https://politi.co/2TFS902\u00a0pic.twitter.com/08OLNgwWQy— POLITICO (@POLITICO) 1623936313
At one point, Braddock warned Olszewski not to get too close to Luna, warning that she could "be on the wrong side of it," because Luna was "gonna go down."
He went on to say:
""My polling people are going to charge me $20,000 to do a poll right before the primary, and if the poll says Luna's gonna win, she's gonna be gone. She's gonna disappear. And you cannot tell anybody that, but for the good of our country, we have to sacrifice the few."
When asked how he would "make her go," Braddock responded:
"I call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad and within 24 hours they're sending me pictures of her disappearing ... I'm not joking."
He further described the hit squad as
"Russian mafia. Close-battle combat, TEC-9s, MAC-10s, silencers kind of thing. No snipers. Up close and personal. So they know that the target has gone."
That's when Braddock warned Olszewski again:
"Don't f***ing be on the wrong side of supporting Luna, because 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. And do not repeat this to anybody, because both of us will be in jeopardy if you do. I'm not just blowing smoke here, I'm f***ing being dead ass serious."
Luna has obtained a restraining order, and Braddock refused to tell Politico whether the recording was genuine, speculating that it may have been edited.
People were horrified to hear his plot.
What the...?!!!https://twitter.com/politico/status/1405516885731549187\u00a0\u2026— pro-democracy vixen (@pro-democracy vixen) 1623937376
What kind of foolishness is this? My goodness. https://twitter.com/politico/status/1405516885731549187\u00a0\u2026— Letzy (@Letzy) 1623941426
WTF? Crazy stuff. \n"my russian hit squad will make her disappear"https://twitter.com/politico/status/1405516885731549187\u00a0\u2026— STRATMIL (@STRATMIL) 1623936669
He talked about dark money that he couldn't funnel to his campaign legally and that he would have his opponent assassinated if polls showed she was going to win. But also called himself a "servant of God." This is disgusting criminal behaviorhttps://twitter.com/politico/status/1405516885731549187\u00a0\u2026— Lee Ford (Ford-Faherty) (@Lee Ford (Ford-Faherty)) 1623937736
THIS IS INSANITY!!!https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1405500440805003268\u00a0\u2026— Jeannie Flores (@Jeannie Flores) 1623937965
This is absolutely horrifying.https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1405500440805003268\u00a0\u2026— Melissa Price (@Melissa Price) 1623935555
Some saw Braddock's words as a manifestation of the extremism embraced by the Republican party in the era of Trump.
Haha cool cool the GOP is really normal let\u2019s definitely be sure to meet these good faith opponents in the middle https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1405500440805003268\u00a0\u2026— Jeremy Rosenberg (@Jeremy Rosenberg) 1623936295
One day people will hopefully realize what Republicans have become - and hopefully before it is too late.https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1405500440805003268\u00a0\u2026— Thomas - No filter \u261c (@Thomas - No filter \u261c) 1623939720
"No, I'm not joking." lol this is the Republican party. If William Braddock isn't in jail by lunch time, whole system is rigged.https://twitter.com/politico/status/1405516885731549187\u00a0\u2026— Gregory Spraggins Jr (@Gregory Spraggins Jr) 1623936622
In the same call, Braddock described himself as a "humble servant of God."
