Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s chief communications officer resigned June 25, and her attorney left the same day, both leaving in the wake of an FBI raid on the mayor’s home last week.
The mayor made her first public remarks on the raid at a June 24 press conference and declared her innocence.
He previously served as the chief of staff at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management for more than three years.
“Francis was a valuable member of the team whose contributions are greatly valued and appreciated. I thank him for his service and wish him well,” Ms. Thao said in a statement.
Adding to the mayor’s troubles, her attorney also reportedly resigned hours after her press conference.
High-profile attorney Tony Brass was hired as Ms. Thao’s counsel late last week after the June 20 FBI raid. He told local television station KRON4 that he was unaware of the mayor’s public statement and only found out about it through the news.
At the press conference, the mayor said that she is not involved in any wrongdoing.
“I want to be crystal clear; I have done nothing wrong,” the mayor told reporters at City Hall. “I can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me. I have not been charged with a crime and I am confident that I will not be charged with a crime because I am innocent.”
On June 20, local media footage showed federal agents removing boxes, trash bags, and plastic bins from a residence identified as the mayor’s on Maiden Lane in Oakland’s Lincoln Highlands neighborhood. Reports indicate that the mayor was escorted from her home during the search.
The reason for the raid remains unclear.
Ms. Thao said she was not given notice about the raid and is “seeking answers from the U.S. attorney about what is happening and why,” including why she “wasn’t offered the opportunity to cooperate voluntarily.”
“I plan to be 100 percent transparent and cooperate fully with this investigation,” she said.
Federal agents also raided two other residences, including the home of Andy Duong, the director of the city’s garbage vendor California Waste Solutions, and that of his father, David Duong, president of the waste contractor, as reported by local outlets.
Since 2020, Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission has been probing a recycling company for alleged improper campaign donations to city officials, including the mayor. Simon Russell, the commission’s enforcement chief, told The Epoch Times that the investigation continues.
Meanwhile, a recall petition against the mayor gathered enough signatures for the November ballot days before the raid—a sequence she claims was not coincidental.
“The timing of all this is troubling. And we should all be concerned. We now have an active recall campaign that is a waste of time and public resources,” she said.
The mayor has drawn connections between the raid and the recall effort, alleging it is orchestrated by wealthy political adversaries.
“I want to know more about the handful of billionaires from San Francisco and from Piedmont, who are hell-bent on running me out of office,” she said. “The day following the qualification of a recall election, funded by some of the richest people in the Bay Area, seemed like the right day to execute a warrant.”
However, Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao has said that their concerns stem from the mayor’s handling of the city’s budget and public safety issues—particularly focusing on the failure to secure state grant funds aimed at combating retail theft.
According to the city auditor, Oakland prepared an application but did not successfully submit it, missing out on a share of $240 million in state funding.
“It’s not simply a job performance issue, it’s about her integrity, her competence, her missing the retail [theft] grant, her bankruptcy of the city’s budget.... It’s just all too much,” Seneca Scott, one of the key organizers and a former mayoral candidate, told The Epoch Times.
In her speech on June 24, the mayor said she has no plans to step down.
“I will not be bullied, and I will not be disparaged, and I will not be threatened out of this office,” she said.
Ms. Thao, who transitioned from her role as an Oakland City Council member to mayor in January 2023, will serve her current term until 2026 should the recall vote in November not succeed.
