A defiant Oakland mayor, Sheng Thao, made her first public comments the following Monday the FBI raid on her home last weekin which she says she has nothing to hide and that she is not the subject of a federal investigation.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Thao said. “I can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me.”
Thao has condemned the early morning attack on her home, which occurred without warning, and said the effort to have her recalled from office was a waste of time and city resources.
“I want to know what probable cause the FBI has. What evidence have they gathered that justifies a raid on a sitting mayor’s home without notice and without the courtesy of an interview,” Thao said. “I want to know more about the handful of billionaires from San Francisco and Piedmont who are determined to remove me from office. I want to know why the day after the qualifying of a recall election financed by some of the wealthiest people in the Bay Area seemed to me the right day to execute an order.”
Before the news conference, Thao’s chief of staff, Lee Hanson, said Thao would not answer questions on the advice of her lawyer.
On June 20, about a dozen FBI agents served arrest warrants at Thao’s home on Maiden Lane in the city’s Lincoln Highlands neighborhood and emerged from the house hours later with boxes. It is unclear what the officers were looking for and what was seized.
Federal agents also served arrest warrants at two other homes owned by the politically influential Duong family and at offices shared by the Vietnamese American Business Association (VABA) and California Waste Solutions, which manages the city’s recycling program.
Both VABA and California Waste Solutions have included multiple members of the Duong family on their leadership teams.
The Oakland NAACP called on Thao to resign After the raids, she said she “cannot focus on the needs of the people of Oakland while addressing the significant challenges posed by the raid and the FBI’s investigation.”
Thao’s former chief of staff Renia Webb also called on the mayor to resign, accusing Thao of being involved in a pay-to-play scheme; allegations she made back in February 2023.
Thao’s attorney Tony Brass said Friday it wasn’t clear that she is even the subject of the investigationand said Thao is “ready, willing and able to cooperate with authorities.”
