In a secretly recorded phone call last week, one Florida Republican congressional contender spoke openly about having another assassinated.
“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,” GOP congressional contender William Braddock told conservative activist Erin Olszewski in a phone call June 9. He was referring to a primary opponent in the race, Anna Paulina Luna, who’s since taken out a restraining order against him.
“And you cannot tell anybody that, but for the good of our country, we have to sacrifice the few,” Braddock added.
Olszewski handed the recording over to police. Politico published a video of her taking the call from Braddock on Thursday morning. Luna won Florida’s 13th Congressional District’s primary last year but ultimately lost the race to Rep. Charlie Crist (D), who has since announced a run for governor. Politico referred to Braddock as a “lower-tier candidate” in the GOP primary.
Braddock got more and more explicit as the call went on, after initially mentioning that he had access “to a hit squad” comprised of Russians and Ukrainians.
“How do we make her go, though?” Olszewski prompted Braddock at one point.
“I call up my Russian and Ukrainian hit squad and, within 24 hours, there’s going to be pictures of her disappearing,” Braddock responded, before saying that he wasn’t joking and “this is beyond my control at this point.” He later said that “Freemason brothers” were offering him access to Russian hit squads.
“I am in deep, I will admit that,” he said. “If I lose, I’m going to have to move out of the country. But if I win, I’m going to help make a difference for everyone in the country.”
Olszewski — who made a name for herself in conservative circles with the book “Undercover Epicenter Nurse,” about her time treating COVID patients at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York — pressed Braddock for more detail: “Is this squad that you’re talking about, are they, like snipers?” she asked.
“Russian mafia,” Braddock responded. “Close-battle combat, TEC-9s, MAC-10s, silencers kind of thing. No snipers. Up close and personal. So they know the target is gone.”
“That’s why I’m telling you, don’t be on the wrong fucking side of supporting Luna,” he continued. “Because if you’re near her when the 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 fucking being dead-ass serious, and it scares the shit out of me too,” Braddock added. “This is even scaring me at this point. But I know what I’m doing is noble and I’m just trying to remain a humble servant of god, and I’ve got a lot of people behind me.”
Braddock wouldn’t confirm one way or the other to Politico that he had made the statements in the recording — which he said was of “allegedly me … there is no proof of that.”
Braddock suggested the recording “may even be altered and edited,” Politico reported, though Olszewski denied editing the recording and Politico reported obtaining a voicemail Braddock left for a consultant using the same phone number. Braddock’s voice, the publication said, “seemed to match the information Olszewski shot in her video.”
“This is a dirty political tactic that has caused a lot of people a lot of stress and is completely unnecessary,” Braddock said.
