Former U.S. Attorney Stanley Twardy told the Register Citizen on Friday that he hopes to complete his investigation of Chris Donovan’s campaign finances this week.
Donovan’s campaign hired Twardy to investigate the campaign’s activities following the arrest of Campaign Finance Director Robert Braddock Jr., who was charged by the Feds with trying to hide $20,000 in campaign donations in an attempt to influence legislation before the General Assembly.
“We hired Stan Twardy to conduct an independent investigation,” Gabe Rosenberg, Donovan’s campaign spokesman, said Friday night. “Because it’s independent, we don’t know when it will be completed.”
He got his answer Friday night when Twardy told the Register Citizen it would be completed this week.
The campaign was hopeful that Twardy would complete his work within 15 business days, which would be Monday, June 25, and left it up to the U.S. Attorney’s office to decide whether to share the results with members of the news media.
Meanwhile, Braddock’s probable cause hearing has been postponed 30 days and information released by the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI has been limited to the May 30 arrest affidavit detailing the undercover sting operation.
In a motion to the court on Braddock’s behalf, Attorney Frank Riccio II said has been “diligently discussing the case with Assistant United States Attorney Christopher M. Mattei.”
“Mr. Braddock himself is not cooperating, as I have been exclusively communicating with the government,” Riccio said Monday in an email.
Riccio, who has said his client is not guilty, argues that the court should extend the statutory limitation for filing an indictment under the Speedy Trail Act because his client was arrested on a criminal complaint and not through an indictment. He is requesting an extension until July 29.
However, July 29 is just 16 days from the Aug. 14 primary, and the Donovan campaign is looking for some sort of closure in this case or at least a pronouncement from the federal government that Donovan was not involved.
So far, the U.S. Attorney’s office has declined comment on the investigation.
