Last Thursday, federal agents carried out a surprise search of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home. They also raided the homes of David and Andy Duong, the owners of California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s curbside recycling contractor. And they searched CWS’s office.
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The raids have sent political shockwaves through Oakland. On Monday, four days after the searches, Thao gave a fiery and defiant speech at City Hall, proclaiming her innocence.
Meanwhile, Oakland residents and journalists have been abuzz with speculation. Breaking news has circulated at lightspeed on Twitter and other social media alongside rumors and false claims.
For all the attention these events have garnered—it’s not every day a sitting mayor’s home is rummaged through by the FBI—there’s actually very little we know about what’s going on.
Here’s some of what’s in the public record and some of the things that remain mysteries.
The FBI searched four locations
Four locations were raided last Thursday in Oakland: Thao’s home, the homes of California Waste Solutions owners David Duong and Andy Duong, and CWS’s corporate headquarters.
Thao rents a single-family home in the Lincoln Highlands neighborhood. She lives with her partner, Andre Jones, and their two children.
Andy Duong lives in the hills near Merritt College, and David Duong also lives in the East Oakland Hills. California Waste Solutions’ office is located on Estuary Cove, not far from Brooklyn Basin.
What were the FBI looking for?
In order to search these locations, an FBI agent or other federal law enforcement officer had to write up an “affidavit,” basically a brief report in which they describe the investigation they’re working on, why they think they have probable cause to believe that a crime occurred, and why they think there could be evidence of these crimes at the locations they want to search.
A federal judge read this warrant application, including the affidavit, and agreed with the FBI that there was probable cause a crime happened and that they could find some evidence.
FBI agents leaving Thao’s home were seen carrying boxes of material. What was in those boxes is known only to the FBI and Thao.
The warrants, affidavits, and other materials submitted to the judge are “sealed,” meaning they public can’t see them right now because the investigations are ongoing.
Did Sheng Thao commit a crime?
The only people who know what the FBI agents were looking for when they searched Thao’s home are the FBI, the federal judge who signed off on the warrant, and the federal prosecutors who are working closely with the FBI and other law enforcement.
The FBI agents were required to leave an inventory with Thao, basically papers that say what they searched and took from her home. But they don’t have to tell Thao exactly what they might be looking for in her computer files or papers.
It’s possible that Thao is the target. It’s also possible she isn’t, and the FBI is looking at someone close to her. To date, no law enforcement agency has publicly accused Thao of wrongdoing.
Thao’s former chief of staff said she talked to the FBI
Renia Webb, who worked as Thao’s chief of staff while she was a councilmember, told ABC7 that she spoke to FBI agents about the mayor last year.
Webb claims that the FBI questioned her about “board appointments, about contracts” and the Duong family.
Webb also went to the Alameda County District Attorney’s office last year, claiming to have information about criminal activities.
Webb hasn’t been specific about what she’s alleged.
How are the Duongs related to all of this?
Again, only a tiny handful of people—law enforcement agents mostly—know if the investigation of the Duongs is related to the investigation that took the FBI to Mayor Thao’s home. But it would be a big coincidence if the FBI decided to raid Thao’s home and the Duongs’ houses on the same day for unrelated reasons.
There are some other reasons to think the raids were linked. For five years, political regulators with Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission and the state Fair Political Practices Commission have been looking into an alleged political money laundering operation run by Andy Duong and his father.
The Duongs haven’t been accused of any wrongdoing yet in these cases, but documents The Oaklandside obtained spell out a scheme in which the Duongs allegedly lined up “straw donors” to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to Oakland City Council candidates.
It’s possible this alleged political money laundering scheme has nothing to do with the raid of Thao’s home last week. It’s also possible that federal agents searched the Duong’s homes and office for entirely different reasons.
Thao’s spokesperson resigned on Monday. She also cut ties with her original attorney
Francis Zamora, Thao’s head of communications, quit on Monday after Thao’s City Hall press conference.
Patty Navalta, who worked in Thao’s office as her spokesperson before Zamora, has temporarily rejoined the mayor’s team.
Last Friday, Thao had also gotten an attorney to represent her. Tony Brass, a former federal prosecutor, told The Oaklandside he would hold a press conference in Marin County that day to update the media, but it’s unclear if the press conference ever happened.
Sometime over the weekend, Thao and Brass parted ways. Brass and Thao’s camp gave differing accounts of why they split.
