Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's new lawyer takes swipe at Department of Justice
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's new lawyer on Friday released a statement blaming federal authorities for unfairly influencing voters in Oakland's upcoming mayoral recall.
On the morning of June 20, federal agents stormed the mayor's home – which she shares with her partner, Andre Jones, bringing out dozens of boxes during the raid that made national headlines.
The FBI also raided two homes belonging to members of the politically influential Duong family, which own California Waste Solutions.
Federal prosecutors have still not said why the properties were raided, nor if the mayor was being investigated for any specific crime.
But the timing was interesting: the raid came two days after the Alameda County Registrar of Voters certified the signatures on a petition to recall Thao from office.
On Friday, Thao's new attorney Jeff Tsai sent out a statement saying in part, "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."
Tsai also said that goes against the department's own internal principles, which warns prosecutors against undertaking investigations when they could influence a campaign.
Tsai took over as Thao's legal counsel after her first lawyer Tony Brass withdrew from the job the same day the mayor first spoke publicly about the raids.
The Department of Justice declined to comment on these accusations. Meanwhile, a federal grand jury is demanding the City of Oakland turn over a trove of documents following the raid.
Mayor Thao continues to maintain that she's done nothing wrong. On Thursday, she spoke about her feelings on the recall election in general.
"Let's just be clear that the recall campaign was set in motion before I was sworn in," Thao said during an interview with CBS News Bay Area. "[It is a] disservice to our democratic process, to the voters and to Oaklanders. This is a distraction and it's a waste of taxpayer money."
If voters recall Thao in the November election, the city council president would serve as the interim mayor. The county election's office would then have 120 days to set up a special election to elect a new mayor.