Feds who raided Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home last month took a phone belonging to her and her partner, Andre Jones, it has been revealed.
The incident was first reported by The San Francisco Chronicleafter it was revealed that the agents left with the mayor’s cell phone and personal computer.
Within five days, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena to the Bay Area city demanding it turn over all “documents and communications relating to Andre Jones.”
Also requested were all “calendar entries or records” of meetings that included either man dating back to June 2022, five months before Thao, 39, was elected.
More than a month later, the feds still have not said why they are interested in the couple, but the seizure of Jones’ cellphone raises questions about the possible involvement of a man who played a small but significant role in the mayor’s political career.
Federal agents who raided Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home last month reportedly left behind a phone belonging to her partner, Andre Jones (above left). The couple is pictured together in their shared home with Thao’s 17-year-old son and her and Jones’ 11-year-old daughter.
The incident was first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle, after it was revealed that the officers left behind the mayor’s cell phone and personal computer.
The spotlight on Jones had already widened in recent weeks, when Thao’s former chief of staff, Renia Webb, publicly accused him of corruption.
Without offering further details, the former employee said she had spoken to the FBI as part of its investigation when the subpoenas hinting at her involvement were sent.
Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of the investigation told the Chronicle on Friday that investigators have taken Jones’ phone.
A second source insisted that Jones, who lives in the house with Thao, stopped using her phone shortly after the June 20 raids.
Instead, they switched to a new number, they said, asking to remain anonymous as the federal investigation into the powerful political couple continues.
Jones reportedly declined to comment when contacted by the Chronicle, as did his attorney.
Despite having worked in politics for decades (once as chief of staff to Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan), Jones’ life and political career are surprisingly shrouded in mystery, and there is little information publicly available about him.
Asked who is representing Jones, Thao’s personal attorney, Jeff Tsai, deferred to attorney Walter Riley, who has not spoken to reporters about his client.
Despite having worked in politics for decades (once as chief of staff to Oakland Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan), Jones’ life and political career are surprisingly shrouded in mystery. The new subpoenas appear to indicate that he is the target of a federal investigation.
Meanwhile, Thao declined to comment to the Chronicle as it reported on the records requests and the one for Jones’ phone, as the mayor faces an attempt to remove him less than two years after taking office.
As a result, she has questioned the timing and legitimacy of the raids by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service, while her attorney remains confident that she is not the target of their investigation.
Thao also said Jones is not involved in his administration or on the city payroll.
“He’s barely been in my office,” she told KPIX this month.
Just over a month ago, Webb, who served as Thao’s chief of staff for 18 months, expressed her belief that the feds were investigating the veteran political staffer who fathered a now 11-year-old daughter with the Oakland mayor.
Webb — who is credited with running much of Thao’s office and campaign — accused Jones of classic corruption, including trying to lobby for jobs for Thao donors and allies.
She said Jones’ behavior bordered on the ridiculous, and that an attempt to involve his ex-wife at Thao’s swearing-in ceremony as mayor was the final straw before she resigned.
That incident is said to have left Thao in tears, as she promoted herself as a success story after surviving a bout of homelessness in the Bay Area as a single mother with her now 17-year-old son.
Meanwhile, Thao declined to comment to the Chronicle as it reported on the records requests and the one for Jones’ phone as the mayor faces a recall effort less than two years after taking office.
“I want to know how the television cameras knew to turn up on my quiet residential street so early in the morning to capture footage of the raid,” he said in an emotional statement days after the raid last month.
“And I want to know why Fox News and Breitbart were so willing to fan the flames and tell the story they wanted to tell, to manipulate the facts to shape the narrative.”
He also expressed condolences for the victims of the recent Juneteenth gathering near Lake Merritt, where more than a dozen people were injured in a violent incident.
Thao did not take questions after his brief speech, which was the last time he spoke in person on the matter.
His parents immigrated to the U.S. from Laos during the Hmong genocide in the 1980s and settled in Stockton as vegetable farmers.
It was only after this that Thao was born. She left home 17 years later, having grown up with nine brothers and sisters.
At age 20, she found herself in an abusive relationship, forcing her to flee to the streets while six months pregnant with her child.
The morning of the Thao raid, federal agents also raided several properties belonging to members of a politically connected family that runs the recycling company contracted by the city. The nature of their investigation remains unknown.
For several years, she raised him while staying at a friend’s house.
Thao later met Jones while working as an intern with Kaplan, who…as elected to the City Council in 2008, and had hired Jones as chief of staff for her office.
Jones would leave this position in 2016, before being appointed a year later as deputy chief of external and intergovernmental affairs at the California Bureau of Cannabis Control.
Thao, meanwhile, took his place as chief of staff, before winning a seat on the council in 2018.
Jones left her state job in 2021, the same year she ran for a seat on the Democratic Party’s coordinating committee in District 18, which includes Oakland and Alameda, as part of the Progressive and Labor Unity Slate.
He won, although the position is unpaid. He made contributions to Thao in 2018 and Kaplan in 2020.
It’s unclear what Jones has done professionally since then.
Earlier this month, he took a reporter’s business card from the front door before closing it behind him, the Chronicle reported, after The feds also raided several properties belonging to members of a politically connected family that runs the recycling company contracted by the city.
Still, the nature of the investigation remains unknown as the impeachment effort continues.
In March, Oakland’s In-N-Out Burger became the first of the chain’s locations to close due to rampant crime in the area, along with a Subway and a Denny’s.
The removal comes as residents continue to complain about rising crime and homelessness rates, a phenomenon the mayor had promised to address.
Meanwhile, Jones has also tried his hand at acting, with three credits in low-budget films released in 2003 and 2004.