Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by the FBI over pay-to-play allegations against her boyfriend, a former aide claims, and the worker also revealed deep discomfort in the couple’s relationship.
The Democratic lawmaker’s Maiden Lane home was searched around 5:30 a.m. PT on Thursday.
Renia Webb, who served as Thao’s chief of staff for 18 months, says she has been interviewed by federal agents and believes they may be investigating her boyfriend Andre Jones.
Webb, who says he ran his office and campaign, accuses Jones of classic pay-for-play corruption, including trying to lobby for jobs for Thao donors and allies.
She says Jones’ behavior bordered on the ridiculous, and that a stunt in which he tried to involve his ex-wife at Thao’s mayoral swearing-in ceremony was the final straw for Webb before she resigned.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by the FBI over pay-to-play allegations against her boyfriend Andre Jones (pictured, top left), a former aide claims, and the worker also revealed a huge discomfort in the couple’s relationship.
“And finally I said, ‘Andre, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you have to get out of here.'” I thought, this is too much. I do not know what is happening. Sheng was crying. She asked me: Why would you do this to me on my day like it was crazy?
Meanwhile, Webb said he had spoken to the FBI earlier this year as part of an investigation into what was happening at the office.
“In the line of questioning I realized that they had already been investigating, you know, some of his pay-to-play activities,” he said. ABC7.
Webb also says he was asked about a family close to the mayor who was also raided this week.
Agents conducted searches about three miles south at two homes owned by members of the influential Duong family, which owns the recycling company Cal Waste Solutions.
The signature has been investigated about campaign contributions to Thao and other city elected officials, the local media outlet oakland side reported in 2020.
One of the properties is owned by Andy Duong and the other is related to David and Linda Duong, according to records cited by the Chronicle.
Andy Duong was one of the people Webb was questioned about by federal agents.
FBI agents remove boxes from home associated with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao during raid
Federal authorities raided a home belonging to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao early Thursday as part of an investigation that included a search of at least two other homes, authorities said.
“It’s just board appointments, contracts, Andy, you know the Duong family,” he said.
Sources told DailyMail.com that the mayor’s first official trip last year, to Vietnam, was co-sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association, formed by a member of the Duong family, sparking speculation that the FBI could be investigating accusations of influence peddling.
Webb contacted his former boss via text message during the raid to offer his best wishes.
‘She has a good heart. And she came to this wanting to do it. But sometimes that power and that machine just takes people to another level in the wrong direction… and we’re all paying the consequences for it.’
This comes after Thao’s lawyer, Tony Brass, said Friday that the investigation is not focused on his client.
“We have no information that she is or will be the target of this or any investigation,” he said Friday.
brass said NBC Bay Area He is not happy with how this investigation has made Thao look.
‘Mayor Thao is ready, willing and able to fully cooperate with federal investigators. She has nothing to hide,’ she stated.
Thao’s lawyer, Tony Brass, has said the investigation is not focused on his client. “We have no information that she is or will be the target of this or any investigation,” he said Friday.
Brass says there are no plans for the mayor, who is facing a recall, to resign at this time
‘It is unfortunate that he had to endure the bad image of having this search warrant executed at his home. She would have cooperated with this investigation without the need for this search. ‘She will continue to do the job Oakland’s mayor expects of her and provide the federal government with any information she is seeking.’
Brass says there are no plans for the mayor, who is facing a recall, to resign at this time.
“The mayor of Oakland has not been arrested,” Brass said. ‘There is a search warrant that was executed at an address. “What that was for and why it was done does not take away from her capacity or ability to be mayor of Oakland.”
The raid occurred around 5:30 a.m., sources said. It all started when two jeeps stopped at the mayor’s house and several FBI agents wearing bulletproof vests jumped out.
They ran to the mayor’s door and announced that they were from the FBI. Standing behind a shield, they then kicked in the door. They remained in the house for the next two hours.
The mayor failed to show up for a scheduled 10 a.m. news conference in San Francisco, where regional officials were present to support an affordable housing bond on the November ballot, sources said.
At another community event this morning in Oakland, Thao’s assistant, Brandon Harami, was asked about the raid and said he didn’t know anything about it, sources said.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Thao faces a recall election as voters complain about rising crime in the Bay Area city.
Sheng Thao will face a historic recall election in November amid anger over his failure to control the situation in Oakland.
It’s unclear why the property was raided, but according to public records, it appears Thao rents the house (pictured).
They say his progressive, soft-on-crime policies have emboldened criminals and scared away businesses.
Thao will face a historic recall election in November amid anger over his failure to control the situation in Oakland.
The progressive Democratic lawmaker is the first mayor in the city’s history to be recalled, after a campaign to recall her garnered more than 40,000 signatures.
“In just one year, Thao’s incompetence and dishonesty accelerated Oakland’s decline, leading to the closure of long-standing businesses and the abandonment of generational families,” the Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) campaign website stated. ).
Critics are also angry that he missed a chance to apply for a $15 million retail theft grant, fired Oakland Police Chief LaRonne Armstrong “without cause” without naming a successor, and lost the Oakland A’s baseball team. Oakland.
They also accused her of lying when calling the State of Emergency to confront the wave of crime plaguing the city.
Oakland has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, including murders, which have skyrocketed from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year.
Overall crime increased 18 percent in 2023, property crimes increased 17 percent, and violent crimes increased 21 percent.
And in the first four months of 2024, residential burglaries skyrocketed 118 percent from the same period last year.
Surprisingly, in 2023 one car was also stolen for every 30 residents.
A Florida family was robbed on their first day in Oakland, where they were visiting to register their son for college on Tuesday.
The situation has led several large corporations to withdraw from the city, citing fears for staff safety and the crippling impact of retail theft.
On Tuesday, a Florida family leaving their son in the city to enroll him in college had their rental car looted. Since then, the traumatized parents and their family fled the city and withdrew their son from studying there.
In August, a particularly disturbing video showed an innocent woman being dragged along the ground by two muggers after trying to fight them off.
Oakland’s only In-N-Out Burger restaurant in the area closed after 18 years, despite still making healthy profits, as customers and staff were “unsafe” due to rising crime rates, the company said .
Local Denny’s also closed its doors, while Taco Bell refuses to allow indoor dining amid a series of incidents.
Earlier this year, Kaiser, PG&E, Clorox and Blue Shield announced they were spending $10 million of their own cash on additional safety measures for their employees amid inaction from the city.
Thao’s opponents blame his progressive policies for skyrocketing crime.