A day after Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by the FBI, she has yet to speak or appear publicly but has hired a criminal defense attorney who issued a statement Friday.
Anthony Brass, a lawyer specializing in defending white collar, anti-trust and racketeering cases, among other things, said Thao is willing to cooperate with federal investigators and has nothing to hide.
“It’s unfortunate that she has had to endure the bad optics of having this search warrant executed on her home. She would have cooperated with this investigation without the need for this search,” Brass said in an email “She will continue to do the work Oakland expects from their mayor and provide the federal government with whatever information they are seeking. We have no information that she is or will be the target of this or any investigation,” he said.
While Thao has so far remained silent and her opponents have redoubled calls for her resignation, most of the rest of Oakland’s leadership has also kept a wary distance from the federal law enforcement activity surrounding the mayor.
None of the members of the Oakland City Council immediately responded to requests for comment Friday and a survey of their social media accounts revealed only one, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, to have mentioned the FBI raids. “As for this morning’s FBI raids, I share the shock felt by many, and I call on all of us to remain focused on the important work of realizing a safe, connected and thriving town,” Bas said Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The FBI raid of Thao’s house was conducted simultaneously to raids on the homes and an office associated with David and Andy Duong who, along with other family members, operate California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s contracted recycler.
While the FBI didn’t say what type of investigation the raids were linked too, Thao, the Duongs and Cal Waste are all under investigation by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, which is looking into alleged illegal campaign finance contributions.
Also, Thao and other local leaders last year attended what was billed as a “government and business trip” to Vietnam that was at least partly organized by the Oakland-based Vietnamese American Business Association, of which David Duong is chairman. It’s unclear if that trip or VABA is part of the government’s investigation.
The raids were the second blow in as many days for the mayor. On Wednesday, organizers of an effort to recall Thao said they had enough valid signatures to place her ouster on the November ballot.
Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao leaders said they received a notice from the city Tuesday that a sampling of the 40,595 signatures they turned in shows enough are valid to place the recall on a ballot. OUST leaders, as well as the head of the Oakland branch of the NAACP, Cynthia Adams, called on Thao to resign in the face of her mounting troubles.