One reason the federal trial of former State Senator Dennis Bradley was long-delayed centered on an evidentiary battle over inclusion of a 28-minute video that the government asserts supports its case. See recording snippet above.
The CT Post’s Ethan Fry was in the courtroom:
NEW HAVEN — A federal jury saw a 28-minute video of a 2018 party at a Bridgeport restaurant at the center of former state Sen. Dennis Bradley’s trial on campaign finance fraud charges Tuesday.
The video, showed to the jury with videographer Barry Jackson on the witness stand, depicted a packed crowd at Dolphin’s Cove restaurant as they milled about and socialized while they danced to music, as an emcee made announcements and shouted out local dignitaries and politicians, including a number of Bridgeport City Council members, state representatives, and district leaders in the Democratic Town Committee.
The event was billed on invitations as a “Thank You Party” hosted by Bradley’s Bridgeport-based law firm, but federal prosecutors charge he really intended it as a launch party for his state Senate campaign and illegally paid for the event using personal funds, exceeding campaign spending limits.
Prosecutors say Bradley and others “used lies and half-truths” to obtain $180,000 in campaign grants from the state, collecting money for his campaign the night of the party and then claiming afterward they didn’t in an attempt to mislead state elections investigators.
Full story here
