Following Explosive Allegations, Testimony in Ex-Oakland Mayor’s Corruption Trial Continues
Sheng Thao’s former chief of staff will be back on the witness stand Monday, as the second week of the ex-Oakland mayor’s federal corruption trial gets underway.
Thao, along with her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones and Oakland recycling executive David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, are facing conspiracy and bribery charges. Prosecutors allege they engaged in a pay-to-play scheme to elevate the Duong’s companies in exchange for $300,000 paid to Jones and support for Thao’s 2022 mayoral bid. Each defendant has pleaded not guilty.
Leigh Hanson, Thao’s former chief of staff, was the first witness to take the stand last week, when she shed light on the inner workings of the mayor’s office in 2023 and 2024 — including an explosive allegation of inappropriate conduct by some members of a trade delegation Thao attended in Vietnam. Hanson also told the court she had concerns about Jones’ unofficial — and in her view, sometimes inappropriate — role in Thao’s office, as well as a staffing pick, which prosecutors allege is part alleged quid pro quo.
Hanson is expected to face cross examination from both Andy and David Duongs’ defense teams, which could elicit further details about the alleged sexual misconduct on the Vietnam trip, which was sponsored, in part, through the Vietnamese American Business Association, a group David chaired.
Hanson testified that following the trip in the summer of 2023, a journalist approached the mayor’s office with questions about child sex trafficking allegations involving members of the delegation.
Thao attended the trip against Hanson’s advice, because she thought it could have looked bad for Thao to be out of the city so early in her mayorship.
The trade delegation has become a flashpoint in the criminal case, after court records raised questions about who sponsored the high price tag for attendees’ travel, including business class flights, and after allegations surfaced in July that another elected official on the trip engaged in “suspected drug use and activity involving prostitutes.”
On the stand, Hanson said after a journalist had approached the mayor’s office with questions about the rumors, Thao became especially angry with Andy Duong, saying of him: “I hate that fucking playboy, he’s always been trouble, he’s going to ruin my career.”
Insinuating Andy Duong’s involvement, and alleged child sex trafficking, were revelations previously unknown to the public — and went against the court’s pre-established decision that the government would not elicit testimony revealing the alleged involvement of minors.
Andy Duong’s attorney raised this concern to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers during a break in testimony, saying he didn’t object in the moment because it would have brought additional attention and that he didn’t originally plan to cross examine Hanson on the point for that reason.
But, he said that he now intended to do so, since in prior interviews, Hanson hadn’t implicated Andy Duong. Leaving the courthouse Friday, Andy Duong did not respond to questions about the allegations, and his defense team told KQED that any response would come “only in court.”
After Hanson finishes her testimony, prosecutors are expected to call a former member of Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign team and a former employee in the city administrator’s office.