Oakland mayor fires back, questioning FBI timing before recall
OAKLAND, Calif. - An attorney representing Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao released a statement on Friday questioning the timing of an FBI raid her home, five months before a measure to recall her is put on the November ballot.
"The Justice Department’s dramatic step – without any public explanation or justification – just months before a major recall election has now unquestionably affected the election and unfairly influenced the decision voters will have this November," Thao's attorney, Jeff Tsai, wrote in an email to KTVU.
He added that the Justice Department’s "own internal principles" of federal prosecutions specifically warn prosecutors against undertaking investigations, or selecting the timing of investigative steps, to affect an election or otherwise influence a candidate or campaign.
"Through its actions here, though, the Justice Department has done that very thing – it has made itself an improper central feature in November’s election," Tsai wrote.
Subpoena sheds light on FBI investigation of Oakland mayor, Duongs
Oakland's city attorney faces a Thursday deadline to hand over documents to the FBI after the U.S. Attorney in Northern California issued criminal grand jury subpoenas to city officials in the widening probe of the city's politically connected recycling company owners and Mayor Sheng Thao.
He said that he is "confident" that Thao "is not, and will not be, a target of whatever investigation the government is conducting. She has followed applicable campaign finance rules and regulations, and any suggestion of unlawful conduct by the Mayor is not based on fact or evidence."
The San Francisco Chronicle first reported this statement.
The FBI declined comment.
Thao's home that she shares with her partner, Andre Jones, was raided on June 20 in a yet-to-be disclosed FBI investigation. Neither have been charged with any crime.
The homes of David and Andy Duong in Oakland were also searched that day, along with their company, Cal Waste Solutions. None of the politically connected Duongs have been charged with any crime either.
The raid came just two days after the recall election was certified.
The November election will only ask voters if they support a recall of Thao.
If the recall passes, deciding who would replace her would have to take place during another election.