Candidates React To Arrest Of Democrat Christopher Donovan’s Finance Director; Robert Braddock, Josh Nassi Fired

Congressional candidates reacted with surprise Thursday over the stunning news that Democrat Christopher Donovan’s campaign finance director had been arrested and charged by the FBI.

Robert Braddock Jr., 33, was arrested on Wednesday and later released on $100,000 bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Donovan is running for the open seat for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Fifth Congressional District against two other Democrats and four Republicans. Each party will have a primary on August 14, and the seven candidates who qualified for primaries for the same seat represent the highest amount in recent Connecticut history.

The candidates all said they did not know every single detail of the allegations, but they questioned how much Donovan knew and when he knew it. Donovan immediately fired Braddock and campaign manager Josh Nassi, as well as saying that he is cooperating with federal authorities in the probe. He also announced the hiring of Tom Swan, a former campaign manager for anti-war U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont in 2006, as his new campaign manager.

Nassi was one of Donovan’s closest aides, and he left his job as a state employee in order to work fulltime on Donovan’s campaign this year.

“One-party rule breeds political corruption,” said Republican Justin Bernier of Plainville. “If these allegations are true, it’s another reason for voters to break the Democratic monopoly in Connecticut and go back to two-party rule in our state.”

“This could be another in a series of ethical lapses by Donovan’s campaign,” said Chris Cooper, campaign spokesman for Republican Mark Greenberg of Litchfield.  “These are very serious charges, and at the very least they speak to the issue of judgment and character.  If it should turn out that Donovan knew about this activity, it is the worst possible breach of the public trust in a country that prides itself on free and open elections.  To cheat the system is not only illegal, but unforgivable.”

State Sen. Andrew Roraback, the convention-endorsed Republican who is running in the August primary for the Fifth Congressional District, told Capitol Watch that he was surprised by the news.

“Who isn’t shocked and dismayed by the nature of these allegations?’’ Roraback asked Thursday, saying it raises questions about Donovan’s candidacy. “He’s going to have to answer whether he was aware of this. If the answer is he wasn’t aware of this, then the question needs to be asked: why wasn’t he aware of this?’’
 
“The allegations are very troubling and if true, it’s hard to imagine this not having a serious impact on the Speaker’s campaign,” Roraback said. “If the allegations are true and the Speaker knew about this activity, I think that would render him unfit as a candidate. If he was not aware of this activity, it calls into question his role as the candidate.’’“I work hand-in-glove with the people who are raising money for me. I cannot imagine not supervising them in a way to ensure the strict compliance with the law,” Roraback said. “If these allegations are true, I don’t think you have to be an expert in campaign finance law to know it’s not appropriate for money to be given in the name of a person other than the name of the person who gave it. It’s a crime, so Congress has contemplated this eventuality and made it a crime. We all have to wait for all the facts to be presented and we have to wait to hear what the Speaker has to say.’’

Roraback added, “I’m very familiar with the legislation in question because I serve as the ranking member of the finance committee. I voted against the bill in the finance committee, but I neither solicited – nor to the best of  my knowledge have received — any contributions from anyone with an interest in the legislation. It was in response to a court case. The Department of Revenue Services had lost a court case. The DRS was trying to tax these roll-your-own shops. You choose the tobacco that you want and then you put it into a machine and then the machine makes cigarettes for you. They were trying to tax the owners of these facilities as cigarette manufacturers. The court said the owners are not cigarette manufacturers. They just sell tobacco to the customers. Philip Morris – now known as Altria – was lobbying and wanted these people to be subject to the cigarette tax.’’

There are about 15 “roll your own’’ smoke shops in Connecticut, including one in Torrington, he said.

“I voted against the bill,” Roraback said. “It would make each of these small manufacturers pay a $3,500 licensing fee or a $4,500 licensing fee. I was sympathetic to the small manufacturers. They had won in court.’’

Donovan has huge support from labor unions and liberal activists across Connecticut. After he won the endorsement of delegates at the Democratic convention two weeks ago, Donovan announced said that Democrats are different than Republicans.

“Not everyone shares the values of fairness, dignity, and respect,” Donovan said.

As the Democratic frontrunner, Donovan called upon his fellow candidates in February to avoid negative campaign advertising. The arrest and the campaign shake-up, however, are expected to be major topics on the campaign trail in the coming months.