President Trump again urges criminal investigation of Oakland Mayor Schaaf

By Bay City News Service

President Donald Trump again urged U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for obstructing justice during a Sanctuary City roundtable with California leaders opposed to the pro-immigrant policies today at the White House.

The comments were a reference to her actions on Feb. 24, when she notified the immigrant community of an impending Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid that ultimately led to the mass detention of at least 232 of the agency's 1,100 intended targets.

"You talk about obstruction of justice, I would recommend that you look at obstruction of justice for the mayor (of Oakland), Jeff," Trump said, suggesting that Schaaf's actions may have constituted a criminal offense, according to a White House press pool report. 

Sessions did not immediately respond, according to reporters at the scene.

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Trump also claimed that California's sanctuary laws, which limit collaboration between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement, have "sparked a rebellion."

Schaaf did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the president's remarks, but she did make a statement on Twitter about her own activities today.

"Spent the day presenting our vision to make college a reality for every child from #Oakland. Now onto DC to fight for federal $$$ for affordable housing and homeless services," she wrote in a tweet that ended with the hashtags #NotObstructing and #DoingMyJob.

Gov. Jerry Brown also responded on Twitter, starting his statement with a Pinocchio-esque emoji that featured a long nose.

"(Trump) is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA," Brown said.

"Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing," Brown added. "We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed."