Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao still hasn’t said anything publicly one day after federal agents raided her home. But the embattled mayor now has a seasoned attorney in her corner.
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Tony Brass, a criminal defense attorney, told The Oaklandside that Thao is “ready, willing and able to cooperate fully with federal investigators.” Brass said he has no information that Thao is or will be the target of any investigation, adding that the mayor has nothing to hide.
“She would have cooperated with this investigation without the need for this search,” Brass said. “She will continue to do the work Oakland expects from their mayor and provide the federal government with whatever information they are seeking.”
Brass told The Oaklandside that Thao will release a public statement next week.
Earlier on Friday, Brass said he’d be holding a press conference at the Marin County Superior Courthouse. It’s unclear if that actually happened.
Federal agents raided Sheng Thao’s home early Thursday morning, apparently carting away boxes and bags of materials. Agents also searched the homes of David and Andy Duong. The Duong family owns California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s curbside recycling contractor. Agents were also seen searching the company’s offices.
Law enforcement agencies haven’t shared what exactly they’re investigating and why they searched the mayor and the Duongs homes, or California Waste Solutions’ office.
However, the FBI’s activities could be related to an ongoing investigation into campaign finance violations. In 2019, Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission and the California Fair Political Practices Commission launched an investigation into the Duong family after receiving a tip alleging they were secretly giving tens of thousands of dollars to Oakland city councilmembers’ campaign committees.
According to public records, the Duongs allegedly gave $67,000 to the council campaign committees for Dan Kalb, Rebecca Kaplan, Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Larry Reid, Abel Guillen, Desley Brooks, and Thao. These contributions happened in 2016 and 2018, when California Waste Solutions was negotiating with city officials to relocate its West Oakland facilities to the old Army Base. Kalb, Kaplan, McElhaney, Reid, Guillen, Brooks, and Thao haven’t been accused of any wrongdoing as part of this ethics probe.
The ethics investigators subpoenaed 13 people who allegedly participated in a “straw donor” scheme where they gave money to councilmembers’ campaigns in exchange for secret reimbursements from Andy Duong. In court records investigators have alleged they have evidence that Duong “had cash in a drawer in his CWS office” that he gave to a business associate who helped line up straw donors who funneled money to politicians.
Last summer, the Duongs’ helped sponsor a delegation consisting of Thao and other officials who traveled to Vietnam to promote trade. David Duong, who has a business in Vietnam, joined the trip.
Thao’s attorney, Brass, is a former San Francisco deputy district attorney who later worked as an assistant U.S. attorney.
