Over 60% of voters in Oakland, California, threw their Soros-backed Democratic mayor out of office in November, having evidently agreed with the recall campaign’s assertion that Sheng Thao’s “incompetence and dishonesty accelerated Oakland’s decline, causing long-standing businesses to close and generational families to leave.”
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Thao, who has desperately played the victim and tried to blame her downfall on “radical right-wing forces,” was criminally indicted on Thursday by a federal jury following a months-long FBI corruption investigation. Thao’s boyfriend, Andre Jones, has similarly been indicted.
The FBI raided Thao’s house in June — confiscating both her phone and Jones’ phone — as well as three properties linked to members of the affluent Duong family, who the East Bay Times indicated hold the city’s curbside recycling contract through their California Waste Solutions Firm.
A spokesman for the waste company told the Chronicle that California Waste Solutions “understands that it has not been charged and is confident that it has not engaged in any wrongdoing relating to Ms. Thao or anyone else.”
‘She has to deal with the consequences of her actions.’
The Oakland Public Ethics Commission alleged in 2020 that the owners of California Waste Solutions, including David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, had illegally laundered campaign contributions to then-Councilwoman Thao and several of her peers.
In the wake of the raid, Thao maintained that the probe was “not about” her.
While authorities will apparently detail the nature of the charges and some of their findings later on Friday, the Chronicle noted that the charges might have something to do with Evolutionary Homes, an initiative to build container homes for the homeless that involved the Duongs and Mario Juarez, an individual accused of violating the law when trying to get Thao re-elected in 2022.
The city released hundreds of documents related to the probe to the Chronicle just weeks after Thao’s ouster, revealing that Evolutionary Homes hit up Oakland City Hall for $90 million to build 300 shipping container homes. Representatives for Evolutionary Homes apparently provided city officials with a list of possible funding sources from Oakland’s emergency funds — possibly some federally sourced — that could be used to bankroll their costly initiative. Thao reportedly did her best to help the shipping container venture with its scheme.
Renia Webb, Thao’s former chief of staff, told KGO-TV, “I was informed there was pay-to-play behavior going on, that there was corrupt behavior going on in that administration.”
“I’m honestly sad about Sheng. Again, she’s a mom. She’s very bright and smart,” continued Webb. “She just made really foolish decisions. She has to deal with the consequences of her actions.”
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Sheng thao, Thao, Oakland, California, Leftism, Soros, Indictment, Corruption, Democratic corruption, Politics
