A jury took just two hours to find Chris Donovan’s former campaign finance manager guilty of scheming to illegally hide the source of contributions.
It was the political scandal that crushed Donovan’s run for Congress and left eight people facing federal charges, including Robert Braddock Jr.
Prosecutors convinced jurors that Braddock fostered a pay-to-play environment on the campaign trail. They contend that smoke shop owners thought they could trade campaign cash for then-House Speaker Donovan’s help killing a bill that would have taxed owners of roll-your-own tobacco shops. The state presented recordings where Braddock was heard telling the assistant finance manager not to deposit a check from a shop owner. The next day he had Donovan’s driver pick up a new replacement check.
Braddock faces up to 12 years in federal prison. But most political analysts say he’s not the only one who will pay. Matt Hennessy, a Democratic political analyst, says Donovan’s political career, at least in the foreseeable future, is over even though he has not been indicted.
Hennessy says, “[It’s over] simply because he showed his very intimate relationship with a guy who most of the public would say is a very shady character.”