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"slug": "i-know-what-they-do-911-calls-were-key-turning-point-in-oakland-corruption-investigation",
"title": "Exclusive: How a Brawl, 911 Calls Turned a Co-Conspirator Into a Government Witness in Thao Trial",
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"headTitle": "Exclusive: How a Brawl, 911 Calls Turned a Co-Conspirator Into a Government Witness in Thao Trial | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two 911 calls in May 2024 tipped off federal agents to a key development in an ongoing public corruption investigation that has since become the subject of a major federal criminal trial involving \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>’s former mayor, Sheng Thao. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mario Juarez, a businessman and political operative, called police twice — on May 3, 2024, and again the following day — to report he had been assaulted at the Oakland waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions, the city’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A group of 10 men had beaten him up, he said, and the owners of the company brought those men together.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It involves a crime of, high crime of racketeering and organized crime,” he said. “And it may involve police officers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED obtained those calls through a public records request.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week in a federal courtroom in Oakland, FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay said Juarez’s allegations against both the Duongs and police prompted the agency to contact him, setting in motion a series of events that would ultimately lead to the indictment of Thao and three others. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cp>[audio src=\"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/4442983a-32e8-46c8-a850-b4ea01176a2f/audio.mp3\" Image=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg\" Title=\"Mario Juarez's First Call to Oakland Police, Edited to Redact Juarez's Home Address\"]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her longtime partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong, whose family owns California Waste Solutions, are facing charges of bribery, conspiracy and honest services mail and wire fraud in a federal corruption trial that kicked off this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors have described a pay-to-play scheme involving promises of preferential treatment for the Duongs’ businesses, a no-show job and negative campaign mailers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All four defendants have pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In her testimony, Barclay said the FBI had been investigating a potential bribery scheme involving Juarez and the defendants for months when, in May 2024, the agency received information that was significant to its investigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“[Oakland police] brought information to our attention that Juarez had made allegations against the Duong family and [the department] itself,” Barclay said. “Because of some of the allegations about OPD, they brought it to our attention.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the FBI received that information, Barclay said, agents approached Juarez for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It was apparent that he was making allegations of corruption relating to the Duong family,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1878\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106496\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-scaled.jpg 1878w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-2000x2727.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-160x218.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-1127x1536.jpg 1127w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-1502x2048.jpg 1502w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1878px) 100vw, 1878px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mario Juarez, a cooperating witness for the government, sits on the sidewalk outside the California Waste Solutions’ Oakland waterfront office with a blanket over him as ambulance sits parked nearby, May 3, 2024. The photo was seized from Andy Duong’s cell phone. (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay said agents were concerned that if that information got back to the Duongs, they might take steps to destroy evidence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez sat down for his first interview with the FBI about a month after he called 911 to report the alleged assault and has since become a cooperating witness in the federal corruption case. He has pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged scheme.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25020077-july-10-2024-subpoena/\">subpoenaed the city of Oakland\u003c/a>, requesting internal Oakland Police Department phone number directories and lists from March to July that year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also requested any police reports made by or involving members of the Duong family, including Andy Duong, David Duong, Kristina Duong and Johnny Duong, from April to July. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked about the 911 calls, a spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department said department personnel brought the allegations to the FBI and investigated the matters that fell within its own administrative authority. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spokesperson declined to say what happened as a result of the investigation, or if any OPD personnel were charged or disciplined, citing a state law prohibiting the disclosure of most police personnel records. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The Oakland Police Department takes allegations of misconduct by its members seriously,” the spokesperson said. “The department shared the information with the FBI, has cooperated with federal authorities since then, and continues to do so.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spokesperson said, “Because Mr. Juarez is a witness in an ongoing federal criminal trial, the department will not comment on the substance of his statements.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FBI spokesperson Cameron Polan said the agency cannot comment on the case at this time. Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office nor the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office responded to KQED’s questions about the calls or whether any officers have been charged. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Duong, co-owner of California Waste Solutions and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, left, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense attorneys have called into question Juarez’s credibility and what they’ve described as his “decades-long history” of fraud. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In court records filed in the lead-up to the trial, defense attorneys said Juarez had been sued approximately 33 times between 1992 and 2022, including numerous fraud cases involving former business partners. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They described a documented “counter-attack” history, including instances in which they say Juarez alleged misconduct by others in response to accusations or lawsuits lodged against him. Juarez, they said, “has repeatedly falsely accused business partners of crimes and other wrongdoing in efforts to escape liability for his own actions.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An attorney for Andy Duong declined to comment on Juarez’s allegations in the 911 calls. Lawyers for David Duong and Doug Straus with Buchalter Law Firm, an attorney for California Waste Solutions, did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘For your records when you get subpoenaed’ \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The day that Juarez called 911 marked a breaking point in his yearslong relationship with the Duongs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the fall of 2022, Juarez and the Duongs had gone into business together on Evolutionary Homes — a company that aimed to convert shipping containers into housing for people exiting homelessness and market them to Bay Area cities and counties looking to address the crisis. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors allege that Thao agreed to commit the city of Oakland to purchasing housing units from Evolutionary Homes, in addition to other favors, as part of the alleged bribery scheme.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103338\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home development for people who are exiting homelessness. (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in the spring of 2024, prosecutors say the relationship between the Duongs and Juarez began to deteriorate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That year, Andy Duong told an Alameda County District Attorney’s Office inspector that he and his father had invested $800,000 into a business venture with Juarez but ultimately fell victim to what they considered to be theft of their investment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez, they said, was supposed to deliver 50 container homes but had only produced two of them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Over the course of their involvement with him, Juarez continued to ask for more and more money for the project without being able to provide them receipts, etc.,” a July 2024 search warrant affidavit read, continuing, “the Duongs, now allegedly into the project for slightly over $1,000,000, decided to walk away from doing business with Juarez.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“When asked why deliveries were not being made, Juarez would make excuses about being close, or that worker or material costs [were] slowing things down,” Andy Duong told the inspector. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104322\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong, son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a court filing, prosecutors say Juarez became frustrated by the Duongs not reimbursing him for what he said he had already spent.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By late April, the tension in their relationship reached a breaking point. Juarez, prosecutors say, asked to dissolve the partnership, and the Duongs threatened legal action based on loans they had given Juarez.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, they say, Juarez threatened to go to law enforcement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an email on April 24, 2024, to David Duong, Andy Duong and others, Juarez said he was writing “for your records when you get subpoenaed by the FBI, City Attorneys, FPPC, and others,” the filing read.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘I want my money’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez and the Duongs disagree about what happened next. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to prosecutors, on May 3, 2024, Juarez arrived at the Evolutionary Homes office and discovered he had been locked out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an audio recording of the confrontation that followed, which was admitted as evidence in the trial on Friday, Juarez can be heard saying, “I want my money,” to which David Duong responded, “We want our $800,000 back.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1774\" height=\"1182\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106136\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f.jpg 1774w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1774px) 100vw, 1774px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prosecutors say they found a gold chain and watch in Andy Duong’s garage that Mario Juarez identified as belonging to him. Juarez, Andy Duong and David Duong had gone into business together on Evolutionary Homes, a housing startup that’s at the center of an alleged bribery scheme involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, before the two had a falling out in the spring of 2024. (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez can be heard insisting that he needs to get inside the office, while other people, including David Duong, offer to help get his stuff out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The “business is gone,” David Duong can be heard saying. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Have you closed the business?” Juarez asks. “Yeah,” David Duong responded. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asst. U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine told the jury in the government’s opening statement that Andy Duong recorded the exchange.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“When Juarez refused to leave, Duong turned off the recorder,” Fine said. “Some people showed up and beat up Juarez. They beat him, punched him.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, Fine said, they took a watch and chain that Juarez “had worn for years.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That same day, Juarez called 911. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I am reporting a felony assault,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cp>[audio src=\"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/522b4b8d-24fe-424a-b720-b4ea01176a2d/audio.mp3\" Image=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" Title=\"Mario Juarez's Second Call to Oakland Police, Edited to Redact Juarez's Home Address\"]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They assaulted me this afternoon, and I just got home,” he told the dispatcher. “It was about ten people.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez said that the assault was “organized by Johnny Duong,” David Duong’s son and California Waste Solutions’ chief operating officer. Johnny Duong declined to comment on the allegations. A review of Alameda County and federal court records by KQED found no criminal charges against Johnny Duong related to the alleged assault. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next day, when officers apparently still hadn’t responded, Juarez called 911 again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Ma’am, I need to report a crime that I was a victim of,” Juarez said, explaining that he had just woken up from a beating the day before. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I got stomped in the head by ten people that were sent together by the owners of California Waste Solutions, which is the city of Oakland waste management contract,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez asked for a sergeant to respond, because the owners of the company “have tremendous influence with the police, with patrol officers,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispatcher asked Juarez for the name of the company again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez reiterated, “California Waste Solutions.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Because I know them,” Juarez said. “I know what they do. I know how they racketeer. I know how they launder money.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I know how they \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/08/01/fbi-raids-oakland-police-chinatown/\">donate drones\u003c/a> to the police department,” Juarez said. “I know how they have police officers right now in their offices during their break, right now, today, right now. You have a patrol at 1211 Embarcadero on the third floor and saying that he’s at Starbucks. Do you see? Do you not have a patrol officer at 1211 Embarcadero?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m just trying to give you an idea of something that is so powerful that perhaps, you know …” he trailed off. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED has not substantiated Juarez’s allegations against Oakland police. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andy Duong told the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office inspector a different account of the events that day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his version, Juarez showed up at California Waste Solutions on May 3, 2024, and confronted him and his father, claiming they still owed him money he needed to pay his workers in Mexico, where the company was purportedly building homes out of shipping containers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the search warrant affidavit authored by the inspector, Andy Duong alleged Juarez “held them for hours demanding money.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098818\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The California Waste Solutions headquarters at 1211 Embarcadero in Oakland on Sept. 8, 2026. The company provides curbside recycling service in Oakland. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They feared for their safety because he is known to carry weapons,” the affidavit read. “Juarez ultimately left without receiving any further money from the Duongs.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors on Friday showed a photo taken that day outside California Waste Solutions’ office, which was seized from Andy Duong’s phone. In the photo, Juarez can be seen sitting on the ground covered with a blanket while several people stand around him. An ambulance and stretcher are parked nearby. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Winston Chan, one of Andy Duong’s attorneys, told jurors in his opening statement that Juarez showed up that day agitated and armed with a gun. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chan said someone outside the Duong family punched Juarez in the face. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What happened was, yes, an altercation,” Chan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Winston Chan (left), attorney for Andy Duong, gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Duong and co-defendants former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Andre Jones and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m not going to say that afternoon was handled well,” he said. “But this was the farthest thing from a preplanned ambush.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Court records show an Oakland police officer is expected to testify about his interactions with Andy Duong, David Duong and his sister Kristina Duong, chief financial officer at California Waste Solutions, on the day Juarez placed the second 911 call, as well as a police report he authored documenting the Duongs’ descriptions of the confrontation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a recent court filing, prosecutors said surveillance footage from the recycling company’s headquarters on May 3, 2024, doesn’t exist. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez previously told the FBI he had seen members of the Duong family delete footage from the security system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Evidence that Juarez previously observed the deletion of footage from the surveillance system therefore is relevant to the jury’s assessment of why no corresponding footage exists for May 3, 2024,” the filing read. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Juarez went to the police, it marked the first time he talked to law enforcement about the Duongs, Fine said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About a month later, on June 6, 2024, Juarez sat down with the FBI for an interview. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two weeks after that, the FBI executed search warrants at Thao, Jones and David and Andy Duong’s homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the search of Andy Duong’s residence, Fine said agents discovered a watch and chain that Juarez identified as items stolen from him during the altercation with the Duongs. They were in a paper bag, Fine said, inside Andy Duong’s garage.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Mario Juarez, a businessman and political operative, called police twice — on May 3, 2024, and again the following day — to report he had been assaulted at the Oakland waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions, the city’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Mario Juarez, a businessman and political operative, called police twice — on May 3, 2024, and again the following day — to report he had been assaulted at the Oakland waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions, the city’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A group of 10 men had beaten him up, he said, and the owners of the company brought those men together.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It involves a crime of, high crime of racketeering and organized crime,” he said. “And it may involve police officers.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>KQED obtained those calls through a public records request.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Last week in a federal courtroom in Oakland, FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay said Juarez’s allegations against both the Duongs and police prompted the agency to contact him, setting in motion a series of events that would ultimately lead to the indictment of Thao and three others. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Last week in a federal courtroom in Oakland, FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay said Juarez’s allegations against both the Duongs and police prompted the agency to contact him, setting in motion a series of events that would ultimately lead to the indictment of Thao and three others. \u003c/p>\n"
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"title": "Mario Juarez's First Call to Oakland Police, Edited to Redact Juarez's Home Address"
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"innerHTML": "\n[audio src=\"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/4442983a-32e8-46c8-a850-b4ea01176a2f/audio.mp3\" Image=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg\" Title=\"Mario Juarez's First Call to Oakland Police, Edited to Redact Juarez's Home Address\"]\n",
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"\n[audio src=\"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/4442983a-32e8-46c8-a850-b4ea01176a2f/audio.mp3\" Image=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg\" Title=\"Mario Juarez's First Call to Oakland Police, Edited to Redact Juarez's Home Address\"]\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao, her longtime partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong, whose family owns California Waste Solutions, are facing charges of bribery, conspiracy and honest services mail and wire fraud in a federal corruption trial that kicked off this month. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Thao, her longtime partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong, whose family owns California Waste Solutions, are facing charges of bribery, conspiracy and honest services mail and wire fraud in a federal corruption trial that kicked off this month. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have described a pay-to-play scheme involving promises of preferential treatment for the Duongs’ businesses, a no-show job and negative campaign mailers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have described a pay-to-play scheme involving promises of preferential treatment for the Duongs’ businesses, a no-show job and negative campaign mailers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>All four defendants have pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In her testimony, Barclay said the FBI had been investigating a potential bribery scheme involving Juarez and the defendants for months when, in May 2024, the agency received information that was significant to its investigation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In her testimony, Barclay said the FBI had been investigating a potential bribery scheme involving Juarez and the defendants for months when, in May 2024, the agency received information that was significant to its investigation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“[Oakland police] brought information to our attention that Juarez had made allegations against the Duong family and [the department] itself,” Barclay said. “Because of some of the allegations about OPD, they brought it to our attention.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“[Oakland police] brought information to our attention that Juarez had made allegations against the Duong family and [the department] itself,” Barclay said. “Because of some of the allegations about OPD, they brought it to our attention.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Once the FBI received that information, Barclay said, agents approached Juarez for an interview.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It was apparent that he was making allegations of corruption relating to the Duong family,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It was apparent that he was making allegations of corruption relating to the Duong family,” she said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106496\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-scaled.jpg 1878w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-2000x2727.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-160x218.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-1127x1536.jpg 1127w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-1502x2048.jpg 1502w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mario Juarez, a cooperating witness for the government, sits on the sidewalk outside the California Waste Solutions’ Oakland waterfront office with a blanket over him as ambulance sits parked nearby, May 3, 2024. The photo was seized from Andy Duong’s cell phone.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106496\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mario Juarez, a cooperating witness for the government, sits on the sidewalk outside the California Waste Solutions’ Oakland waterfront office with a blanket over him as ambulance sits parked nearby, May 3, 2024. The photo was seized from Andy Duong’s cell phone.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay said agents were concerned that if that information got back to the Duongs, they might take steps to destroy evidence. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Barclay said agents were concerned that if that information got back to the Duongs, they might take steps to destroy evidence. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Juarez sat down for his first interview with the FBI about a month after he called 911 to report the alleged assault and has since become a cooperating witness in the federal corruption case. He has pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged scheme.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Juarez sat down for his first interview with the FBI about a month after he called 911 to report the alleged assault and has since become a cooperating witness in the federal corruption case. He has pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged scheme.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In July 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25020077-july-10-2024-subpoena/\">subpoenaed the city of Oakland\u003c/a>, requesting internal Oakland Police Department phone number directories and lists from March to July that year. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In July 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25020077-july-10-2024-subpoena/\">subpoenaed the city of Oakland\u003c/a>, requesting internal Oakland Police Department phone number directories and lists from March to July that year. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It also requested any police reports made by or involving members of the Duong family, including Andy Duong, David Duong, Kristina Duong and Johnny Duong, from April to July. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It also requested any police reports made by or involving members of the Duong family, including Andy Duong, David Duong, Kristina Duong and Johnny Duong, from April to July. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Asked about the 911 calls, a spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department said department personnel brought the allegations to the FBI and investigated the matters that fell within its own administrative authority. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Asked about the 911 calls, a spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department said department personnel brought the allegations to the FBI and investigated the matters that fell within its own administrative authority. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The spokesperson declined to say what happened as a result of the investigation, or if any OPD personnel were charged or disciplined, citing a state law prohibiting the disclosure of most police personnel records. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The spokesperson declined to say what happened as a result of the investigation, or if any OPD personnel were charged or disciplined, citing a state law prohibiting the disclosure of most police personnel records. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The Oakland Police Department takes allegations of misconduct by its members seriously,” the spokesperson said. “The department shared the information with the FBI, has cooperated with federal authorities since then, and continues to do so.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The spokesperson said, “Because Mr. Juarez is a witness in an ongoing federal criminal trial, the department will not comment on the substance of his statements.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>FBI spokesperson Cameron Polan said the agency cannot comment on the case at this time. Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office nor the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office responded to KQED’s questions about the calls or whether any officers have been charged. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Duong, co-owner of California Waste Solutions and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, left, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104321\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Duong, co-owner of California Waste Solutions and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, left, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Defense attorneys have called into question Juarez’s credibility and what they’ve described as his “decades-long history” of fraud. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In court records filed in the lead-up to the trial, defense attorneys said Juarez had been sued approximately 33 times between 1992 and 2022, including numerous fraud cases involving former business partners. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They described a documented “counter-attack” history, including instances in which they say Juarez alleged misconduct by others in response to accusations or lawsuits lodged against him. Juarez, they said, “has repeatedly falsely accused business partners of crimes and other wrongdoing in efforts to escape liability for his own actions.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>An attorney for Andy Duong declined to comment on Juarez’s allegations in the 911 calls. Lawyers for David Duong and Doug Straus with Buchalter Law Firm, an attorney for California Waste Solutions, did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>An attorney for Andy Duong declined to comment on Juarez’s allegations in the 911 calls. Lawyers for David Duong and Doug Straus with Buchalter Law Firm, an attorney for California Waste Solutions, did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘For your records when you get subpoenaed’ \u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The day that Juarez called 911 marked a breaking point in his yearslong relationship with the Duongs. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the fall of 2022, Juarez and the Duongs had gone into business together on Evolutionary Homes — a company that aimed to convert shipping containers into housing for people exiting homelessness and market them to Bay Area cities and counties looking to address the crisis. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors allege that Thao agreed to commit the city of Oakland to purchasing housing units from Evolutionary Homes, in addition to other favors, as part of the alleged bribery scheme.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103338\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home development for people who are exiting homelessness. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103338\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home development for people who are exiting homelessness. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But in the spring of 2024, prosecutors say the relationship between the Duongs and Juarez began to deteriorate. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That year, Andy Duong told an Alameda County District Attorney’s Office inspector that he and his father had invested $800,000 into a business venture with Juarez but ultimately fell victim to what they considered to be theft of their investment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Juarez, they said, was supposed to deliver 50 container homes but had only produced two of them. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Over the course of their involvement with him, Juarez continued to ask for more and more money for the project without being able to provide them receipts, etc.,” a July 2024 search warrant affidavit read, continuing, “the Duongs, now allegedly into the project for slightly over $1,000,000, decided to walk away from doing business with Juarez.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When asked why deliveries were not being made, Juarez would make excuses about being close, or that worker or material costs [were] slowing things down,” Andy Duong told the inspector. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“When asked why deliveries were not being made, Juarez would make excuses about being close, or that worker or material costs [were] slowing things down,” Andy Duong told the inspector. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104322\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong, son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104322\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong, son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a court filing, prosecutors say Juarez became frustrated by the Duongs not reimbursing him for what he said he had already spent.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>By late April, the tension in their relationship reached a breaking point. Juarez, prosecutors say, asked to dissolve the partnership, and the Duongs threatened legal action based on loans they had given Juarez.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In response, they say, Juarez threatened to go to law enforcement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an email on April 24, 2024, to David Duong, Andy Duong and others, Juarez said he was writing “for your records when you get subpoenaed by the FBI, City Attorneys, FPPC, and others,” the filing read.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In an email on April 24, 2024, to David Duong, Andy Duong and others, Juarez said he was writing “for your records when you get subpoenaed by the FBI, City Attorneys, FPPC, and others,” the filing read.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "‘I want my money’",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘I want my money’\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Juarez and the Duongs disagree about what happened next. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to prosecutors, on May 3, 2024, Juarez arrived at the Evolutionary Homes office and discovered he had been locked out. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an audio recording of the confrontation that followed, which was admitted as evidence in the trial on Friday, Juarez can be heard saying, “I want my money,” to which David Duong responded, “We want our $800,000 back.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In an audio recording of the confrontation that followed, which was admitted as evidence in the trial on Friday, Juarez can be heard saying, “I want my money,” to which David Duong responded, “We want our $800,000 back.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106136\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f.jpg 1774w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prosecutors say they found a gold chain and watch in Andy Duong’s garage that Mario Juarez identified as belonging to him. Juarez, Andy Duong and David Duong had gone into business together on Evolutionary Homes, a housing startup that’s at the center of an alleged bribery scheme involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, before the two had a falling out in the spring of 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106136\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prosecutors say they found a gold chain and watch in Andy Duong’s garage that Mario Juarez identified as belonging to him. Juarez, Andy Duong and David Duong had gone into business together on Evolutionary Homes, a housing startup that’s at the center of an alleged bribery scheme involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, before the two had a falling out in the spring of 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Juarez can be heard insisting that he needs to get inside the office, while other people, including David Duong, offer to help get his stuff out. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The “business is gone,” David Duong can be heard saying. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Because I know them,” Juarez said. “I know what they do. I know how they racketeer. I know how they launder money.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I know how they \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/08/01/fbi-raids-oakland-police-chinatown/\">donate drones\u003c/a> to the police department,” Juarez said. “I know how they have police officers right now in their offices during their break, right now, today, right now. You have a patrol at 1211 Embarcadero on the third floor and saying that he’s at Starbucks. Do you see? Do you not have a patrol officer at 1211 Embarcadero?” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m just trying to give you an idea of something that is so powerful that perhaps, you know …” he trailed off. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Andy Duong told the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office inspector a different account of the events that day. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They feared for their safety because he is known to carry weapons,” the affidavit read. “Juarez ultimately left without receiving any further money from the Duongs.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Winston Chan (left), attorney for Andy Duong, gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Duong and co-defendants former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Andre Jones and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During the search of Andy Duong’s residence, Fine said agents discovered a watch and chain that Juarez identified as items stolen from him during the altercation with the Duongs. They were in a paper bag, Fine said, inside Andy Duong’s garage.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Two 911 calls from May 2024 furthered the FBI’s investigation into alleged public corruption that’s now the subject of a federal trial involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.\n",
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"title": "Exclusive: How a Brawl, 911 Calls Turned a Co-Conspirator Into a Government Witness in Thao Trial | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two 911 calls in May 2024 tipped off federal agents to a key development in an ongoing public corruption investigation that has since become the subject of a major federal criminal trial involving \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>’s former mayor, Sheng Thao. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mario Juarez, a businessman and political operative, called police twice — on May 3, 2024, and again the following day — to report he had been assaulted at the Oakland waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions, the city’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A group of 10 men had beaten him up, he said, and the owners of the company brought those men together.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It involves a crime of, high crime of racketeering and organized crime,” he said. “And it may involve police officers.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED obtained those calls through a public records request.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week in a federal courtroom in Oakland, FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay said Juarez’s allegations against both the Duongs and police prompted the agency to contact him, setting in motion a series of events that would ultimately lead to the indictment of Thao and three others. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her longtime partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong, whose family owns California Waste Solutions, are facing charges of bribery, conspiracy and honest services mail and wire fraud in a federal corruption trial that kicked off this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors have described a pay-to-play scheme involving promises of preferential treatment for the Duongs’ businesses, a no-show job and negative campaign mailers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All four defendants have pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In her testimony, Barclay said the FBI had been investigating a potential bribery scheme involving Juarez and the defendants for months when, in May 2024, the agency received information that was significant to its investigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“[Oakland police] brought information to our attention that Juarez had made allegations against the Duong family and [the department] itself,” Barclay said. “Because of some of the allegations about OPD, they brought it to our attention.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the FBI received that information, Barclay said, agents approached Juarez for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It was apparent that he was making allegations of corruption relating to the Duong family,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1878\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106496\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-scaled.jpg 1878w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-2000x2727.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-160x218.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-1127x1536.jpg 1127w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Trial-Exhibit-554-OAK-0225266-Jaurez-altercation-c138ae0b-1502x2048.jpg 1502w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1878px) 100vw, 1878px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mario Juarez, a cooperating witness for the government, sits on the sidewalk outside the California Waste Solutions’ Oakland waterfront office with a blanket over him as ambulance sits parked nearby, May 3, 2024. The photo was seized from Andy Duong’s cell phone. (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay said agents were concerned that if that information got back to the Duongs, they might take steps to destroy evidence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez sat down for his first interview with the FBI about a month after he called 911 to report the alleged assault and has since become a cooperating witness in the federal corruption case. He has pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged scheme.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25020077-july-10-2024-subpoena/\">subpoenaed the city of Oakland\u003c/a>, requesting internal Oakland Police Department phone number directories and lists from March to July that year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also requested any police reports made by or involving members of the Duong family, including Andy Duong, David Duong, Kristina Duong and Johnny Duong, from April to July. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked about the 911 calls, a spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department said department personnel brought the allegations to the FBI and investigated the matters that fell within its own administrative authority. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spokesperson declined to say what happened as a result of the investigation, or if any OPD personnel were charged or disciplined, citing a state law prohibiting the disclosure of most police personnel records. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The Oakland Police Department takes allegations of misconduct by its members seriously,” the spokesperson said. “The department shared the information with the FBI, has cooperated with federal authorities since then, and continues to do so.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spokesperson said, “Because Mr. Juarez is a witness in an ongoing federal criminal trial, the department will not comment on the substance of his statements.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FBI spokesperson Cameron Polan said the agency cannot comment on the case at this time. Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office nor the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office responded to KQED’s questions about the calls or whether any officers have been charged. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Duong, co-owner of California Waste Solutions and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, left, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense attorneys have called into question Juarez’s credibility and what they’ve described as his “decades-long history” of fraud. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In court records filed in the lead-up to the trial, defense attorneys said Juarez had been sued approximately 33 times between 1992 and 2022, including numerous fraud cases involving former business partners. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They described a documented “counter-attack” history, including instances in which they say Juarez alleged misconduct by others in response to accusations or lawsuits lodged against him. Juarez, they said, “has repeatedly falsely accused business partners of crimes and other wrongdoing in efforts to escape liability for his own actions.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An attorney for Andy Duong declined to comment on Juarez’s allegations in the 911 calls. Lawyers for David Duong and Doug Straus with Buchalter Law Firm, an attorney for California Waste Solutions, did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘For your records when you get subpoenaed’ \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The day that Juarez called 911 marked a breaking point in his yearslong relationship with the Duongs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the fall of 2022, Juarez and the Duongs had gone into business together on Evolutionary Homes — a company that aimed to convert shipping containers into housing for people exiting homelessness and market them to Bay Area cities and counties looking to address the crisis. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors allege that Thao agreed to commit the city of Oakland to purchasing housing units from Evolutionary Homes, in addition to other favors, as part of the alleged bribery scheme.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103338\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-4-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home development for people who are exiting homelessness. (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in the spring of 2024, prosecutors say the relationship between the Duongs and Juarez began to deteriorate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That year, Andy Duong told an Alameda County District Attorney’s Office inspector that he and his father had invested $800,000 into a business venture with Juarez but ultimately fell victim to what they considered to be theft of their investment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez, they said, was supposed to deliver 50 container homes but had only produced two of them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Over the course of their involvement with him, Juarez continued to ask for more and more money for the project without being able to provide them receipts, etc.,” a July 2024 search warrant affidavit read, continuing, “the Duongs, now allegedly into the project for slightly over $1,000,000, decided to walk away from doing business with Juarez.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“When asked why deliveries were not being made, Juarez would make excuses about being close, or that worker or material costs [were] slowing things down,” Andy Duong told the inspector. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104322\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong, son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and a co-defendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a court filing, prosecutors say Juarez became frustrated by the Duongs not reimbursing him for what he said he had already spent.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By late April, the tension in their relationship reached a breaking point. Juarez, prosecutors say, asked to dissolve the partnership, and the Duongs threatened legal action based on loans they had given Juarez.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, they say, Juarez threatened to go to law enforcement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an email on April 24, 2024, to David Duong, Andy Duong and others, Juarez said he was writing “for your records when you get subpoenaed by the FBI, City Attorneys, FPPC, and others,” the filing read.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘I want my money’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez and the Duongs disagree about what happened next. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to prosecutors, on May 3, 2024, Juarez arrived at the Evolutionary Homes office and discovered he had been locked out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an audio recording of the confrontation that followed, which was admitted as evidence in the trial on Friday, Juarez can be heard saying, “I want my money,” to which David Duong responded, “We want our $800,000 back.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1774\" height=\"1182\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106136\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f.jpg 1774w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/chain-watch_brightened-ec47ed5f-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1774px) 100vw, 1774px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prosecutors say they found a gold chain and watch in Andy Duong’s garage that Mario Juarez identified as belonging to him. Juarez, Andy Duong and David Duong had gone into business together on Evolutionary Homes, a housing startup that’s at the center of an alleged bribery scheme involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, before the two had a falling out in the spring of 2024. (Courtesy of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez can be heard insisting that he needs to get inside the office, while other people, including David Duong, offer to help get his stuff out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The “business is gone,” David Duong can be heard saying. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Have you closed the business?” Juarez asks. “Yeah,” David Duong responded. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asst. U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine told the jury in the government’s opening statement that Andy Duong recorded the exchange.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“When Juarez refused to leave, Duong turned off the recorder,” Fine said. “Some people showed up and beat up Juarez. They beat him, punched him.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, Fine said, they took a watch and chain that Juarez “had worn for years.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That same day, Juarez called 911. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I am reporting a felony assault,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They assaulted me this afternoon, and I just got home,” he told the dispatcher. “It was about ten people.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez said that the assault was “organized by Johnny Duong,” David Duong’s son and California Waste Solutions’ chief operating officer. Johnny Duong declined to comment on the allegations. A review of Alameda County and federal court records by KQED found no criminal charges against Johnny Duong related to the alleged assault. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next day, when officers apparently still hadn’t responded, Juarez called 911 again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Ma’am, I need to report a crime that I was a victim of,” Juarez said, explaining that he had just woken up from a beating the day before. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I got stomped in the head by ten people that were sent together by the owners of California Waste Solutions, which is the city of Oakland waste management contract,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez asked for a sergeant to respond, because the owners of the company “have tremendous influence with the police, with patrol officers,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispatcher asked Juarez for the name of the company again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez reiterated, “California Waste Solutions.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Because I know them,” Juarez said. “I know what they do. I know how they racketeer. I know how they launder money.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I know how they \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/08/01/fbi-raids-oakland-police-chinatown/\">donate drones\u003c/a> to the police department,” Juarez said. “I know how they have police officers right now in their offices during their break, right now, today, right now. You have a patrol at 1211 Embarcadero on the third floor and saying that he’s at Starbucks. Do you see? Do you not have a patrol officer at 1211 Embarcadero?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m just trying to give you an idea of something that is so powerful that perhaps, you know …” he trailed off. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED has not substantiated Juarez’s allegations against Oakland police. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andy Duong told the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office inspector a different account of the events that day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his version, Juarez showed up at California Waste Solutions on May 3, 2024, and confronted him and his father, claiming they still owed him money he needed to pay his workers in Mexico, where the company was purportedly building homes out of shipping containers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the search warrant affidavit authored by the inspector, Andy Duong alleged Juarez “held them for hours demanding money.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098818\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_016_qed-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The California Waste Solutions headquarters at 1211 Embarcadero in Oakland on Sept. 8, 2026. The company provides curbside recycling service in Oakland. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They feared for their safety because he is known to carry weapons,” the affidavit read. “Juarez ultimately left without receiving any further money from the Duongs.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors on Friday showed a photo taken that day outside California Waste Solutions’ office, which was seized from Andy Duong’s phone. In the photo, Juarez can be seen sitting on the ground covered with a blanket while several people stand around him. An ambulance and stretcher are parked nearby. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Winston Chan, one of Andy Duong’s attorneys, told jurors in his opening statement that Juarez showed up that day agitated and armed with a gun. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chan said someone outside the Duong family punched Juarez in the face. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What happened was, yes, an altercation,” Chan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Winston Chan (left), attorney for Andy Duong, gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Duong and co-defendants former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Andre Jones and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m not going to say that afternoon was handled well,” he said. “But this was the farthest thing from a preplanned ambush.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Court records show an Oakland police officer is expected to testify about his interactions with Andy Duong, David Duong and his sister Kristina Duong, chief financial officer at California Waste Solutions, on the day Juarez placed the second 911 call, as well as a police report he authored documenting the Duongs’ descriptions of the confrontation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a recent court filing, prosecutors said surveillance footage from the recycling company’s headquarters on May 3, 2024, doesn’t exist. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez previously told the FBI he had seen members of the Duong family delete footage from the security system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Evidence that Juarez previously observed the deletion of footage from the surveillance system therefore is relevant to the jury’s assessment of why no corresponding footage exists for May 3, 2024,” the filing read. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Juarez went to the police, it marked the first time he talked to law enforcement about the Duongs, Fine said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About a month later, on June 6, 2024, Juarez sat down with the FBI for an interview. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two weeks after that, the FBI executed search warrants at Thao, Jones and David and Andy Duong’s homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the search of Andy Duong’s residence, Fine said agents discovered a watch and chain that Juarez identified as items stolen from him during the altercation with the Duongs. They were in a paper bag, Fine said, inside Andy Duong’s garage.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "oakland-corruption-trial-fbi-agent-testimony-stretches-into-fifth-day",
"title": "Thao Trial: Defense Attorneys Poke Holes in FBI’s Oakland Corruption Investigation",
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"headTitle": "Thao Trial: Defense Attorneys Poke Holes in FBI’s Oakland Corruption Investigation | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the course of four days in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103084/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-is-going-on-trial-for-bribery-heres-what-you-need-to-know\">federal corruption trial\u003c/a> of former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> Mayor Sheng Thao, an FBI agent’s testimony has allowed the court to admit thousands of pages of private texts, digital files and audio recordings.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week, defense attorneys tried to cast doubt on what the government believes that evidence proves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Special FBI Agent Katherine Barclay completed her testimony on Tuesday, after providing nearly 20 hours of testimony. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son Andy Duong face bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges for allegedly promising to trade campaign support for Thao’s mayoral campaign, and a $300,000 bribe for favorable treatment for the Duongs’ businesses and interests. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All four have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here’s what Barclay’s testimony and cross-examination revealed so far about the alleged quid pro quo:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who paid what for 2022 campaign mailers?\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense team called into question who paid for negative campaign mailers attacking Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents, which prosecutors say are central to the alleged bribery scheme. Government attorneys have alleged the Duongs paid Mario Juarez, a former business partner, to produce them, pointing to a $75,000 payment that Andy Duong discussed with Juarez via text in October 2022 as evidence supporting their claim. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But on Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense attorney Erik Babcock pointed to expense filings that Juarez filed with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that indicate he spent a total of around $110,000 on two mailers attacking Thao’s opponents, Loren Taylor and Ignacio De La Fuente. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098354\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong exits the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Sheng Thao, the former mayor of Oakland, was criminally indicted by a federal grand jury after an FBI corruption investigation that centered on City Hall and the powerful Duong family that operates the city’s curbside recycling program, a source familiar with the matter told the Chronicle. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“So he didn’t claim to have spent $75,000, did he?” Babcock asked the FBI agent.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay confirmed that was not the total he wrote on his FPPC forms. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later, though, Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedeman, an attorney for the prosecution, directed Barclay back to the document from Juarez’s iCloud account that lays out the alleged “Deal Points for Sheng Thao.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It includes two line items related to the mailers: a $75,000 payment from California Waste Solutions, and a separate $40,000 advance payment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“That roughly adds up to $110,000, right?” she asked Barclay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Yes,” Barclay said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andre Jones’ Evolutionary Homes job wasn’t on his computer\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors also asked Barclay earlier in her testimony about a number of devices that the FBI confiscated during a series of early morning raids on June 20, 2024, which included the home Thao and Jones shared, both David and Andy Duong’s homes, and the waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the pieces of evidence was Jones’ laptop. On it, Barclay said, investigators found no references to Evolutionary Homes — a housing startup Andy Duong founded with Juarez — where Jones purported to work as a government relations specialist. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between December 2022 and January 2023, Jones cashed five checks from Juarez totaling $20,000 for his work at the housing startup, according to a government indictment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in January 2024, Jones was not listed on an organizational chart for the company, which Cecilia Mendez, a former California Waste Solutions employee and Juarez’s onetime romantic partner, sent to the Duongs and others.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors say the multiple checks from Evolutionary Homes and another of Juarez’s companies, called Ciudad Holdings, were bribes, but Jones’ attorneys have characterized them as advances to “keep him available” to work as a consultant selling contracts to municipalities once their container homes were ready to be sold.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones’ attorney spent time during his opening statement pointing to Evolutionary Homes presentations that list him as an employee, as well as a note that indicates he was going to get business cards made by the company. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his cross examination of Barclay on Tuesday, Jones’ attorney Mark Goldrosen pointed out that a contact page on the Evolutionary Homes website didn’t include a comprehensive list of employees — it didn’t have information for reaching Cecily Frost, an Evolutionary Homes representative, or Michael Duong, who he suggested was the company’s chief financial officer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investigators did, however, find evidence on Jones’ computer that he worked for another company, called Kearns and West, a national communications firm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thao and Jones financial struggles come to light\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay’s testimony also allowed for the admission of a number of text exchanges between Thao and Jones regarding their bills. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the course of at least two years when they lived together, Thao sent messages to Jones multiple times reminding him to pay rent. At one point, their landlord told them that, after several months when Jones didn’t pay his portion of the rent on time, the couple would need to provide a cashier’s check, instead of using online deposits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a co-defendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout the trial, prosecutors have raised questions about Jones’ financial status. In 2021 and 2022, Jones and Thao split rent payments or Thao paid them in their entirety. But beginning in January 2023, when Jones began receiving payments from Evolutionary Homes, he began to cover the couple’s monthly rent payments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors have tried to link that shift — Jones’ payments toward his and Thao’s living expenses — to his receiving money for a “now-show” job from Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April 2022, Thao texted Jones: “I don’t have enough to cover rent by myself this month. Your mom hasn’t pitched in on any bills either.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In May 2023, Thao texted Jones that PG&E wanted $6,000 to turn their power back on, and in another message from November 2023, she said: “Please don’t turn on heater, please turn off lights and electricity. The bill this month is 3000 I cannot pay that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home unit for people who are exiting homelessness. (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Nov. 29 of that year, Jones deposited a check from Evolutionary Homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, Goldrosen tried to dispel prosecutors’ connection between Jones’ bill payment and checks from Evolutionary Homes. He asked Barclay if she had looked into Jones’ and Thao’s financial records to see if they paid a $3,000 bill to PG&E between Nov. 14, when Thao sent a text about that bill, and Nov. 29, when Jones deposited the check from Evolutionary homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Wouldn’t it have been important to see if any payments were made to that PG&E bill before the payment from Evolutionary Homes?” Goldrosen asked. “But you yourself didn’t look into that, did you?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay said she did not. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barclay says Juarez accused others of bribes\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, Barclay told the court that in a series of interviews, Juarez alleged “that other local politicians had taken bribes.” Tsai then went on to ask her if the government had interviewed a number of current and former Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro elected officials. She said it had not, except in one case; that politician declined to be interviewed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED is not naming the elected officials, because the claims have not been substantiated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense attorneys have repeatedly attempted to discredit Juarez’s allegations to cast further doubt on Juarez as a witness. He’s been called a “consummate hustler” with a “decades-long history” of fraudulent behavior.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andy Duong’s secret recordings enter the courtroom\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Barclay identified the voices in a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">phone calls\u003c/a> Andy Duong recorded with Thao, Oakland Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas and others — many of which were seemingly recorded without their knowledge. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins previously told KQED it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the call because he is a government witness. Bas is also expected to testify later in the trial. Neither politician has been accused of wrongdoing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098817\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The California Waste Solutions headquarters at 1211 Embarcadero, in Oakland, on Sept. 8, 2026. The company provides curbside recycling service in Oakland. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one phone conversation between Thao and Andy Duong in April 2019, made public in court filings \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">last month\u003c/a>, Thao told him about a confidential conversation the Oakland City Council had regarding a legal dispute with his family’s recycling company, California Waste Solutions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2017, Oakland sued the company for allegedly overcharging rate payers. The recycling vendor countersued, alleging Oakland breached its contract, and the parties settled in 2021 with California Waste Solutions \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/08/09/cws-oakland-lawsuit-recycling-contract-duong-fbi/\">agreeing to pay ratepayers $6 million\u003c/a> in alleged overcharges. The city of Oakland paid the company nearly $2 million and released it from agreements the company made to pay for waste studies and community outreach totaling about $1.5 million.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During that litigation, in 2019, Thao told Andy Duong that multiple council members had questions about a potential refund his family’s company could have been required to give ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, who was then a first-term city councilmember, advised Andy Duong on how to prepare for a meeting the following day: “This is what you guys need to do, OK? You guys need to prepare and talk amongst yourselves and how to figure out how to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao speaks during a rally against her recall at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland on Oct. 15, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao goes on to say that she, Andy Duong, and others attending the meeting, who aren’t explicitly named, should meet in a private place for lunch, “because we don’t really want to be seen with you guys.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In another call from September 2023, Thao tells Andy Duong that he and his business partners will have to “pick and choose” between her support and that of two council members at the time, Janani Ramachandran and Treva Reid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m not f–king with those bitches, they don’t do me any favors at all,” Thao can be heard saying on the call.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What comes next\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Barclay wrapped up her lengthy testimony, FBI intelligence analyst Katherine Higgons briefly testified Tuesday about participating in the June 20, 2024, search of Andy Duong’s house. She said she found a watch and chain in Andy Duong’s garage, which Juarez has alleged was stolen from him during a May 2024 altercation with the Duongs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, Cecilia Mendez will testify. She is Juarez’s former romantic partner and an Evolutionary Homes representative. Prosecutors say she made a number of recordings of Evolutionary Homes board meetings they plan to play when she takes the stand. \u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [
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"\n\u003cp>Over the course of four days in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103084/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-is-going-on-trial-for-bribery-heres-what-you-need-to-know\">federal corruption trial\u003c/a> of former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> Mayor Sheng Thao, an FBI agent’s testimony has allowed the court to admit thousands of pages of private texts, digital files and audio recordings.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Special FBI Agent Katherine Barclay completed her testimony on Tuesday, after providing nearly 20 hours of testimony. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son Andy Duong face bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges for allegedly promising to trade campaign support for Thao’s mayoral campaign, and a $300,000 bribe for favorable treatment for the Duongs’ businesses and interests. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son Andy Duong face bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges for allegedly promising to trade campaign support for Thao’s mayoral campaign, and a $300,000 bribe for favorable treatment for the Duongs’ businesses and interests. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Here’s what Barclay’s testimony and cross-examination revealed so far about the alleged quid pro quo:\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Here’s what Barclay’s testimony and cross-examination revealed so far about the alleged quid pro quo:\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Who paid what for 2022 campaign mailers? ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who paid what for 2022 campaign mailers?\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who paid what for 2022 campaign mailers?\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense team called into question who paid for negative campaign mailers attacking Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents, which prosecutors say are central to the alleged bribery scheme. Government attorneys have alleged the Duongs paid Mario Juarez, a former business partner, to produce them, pointing to a $75,000 payment that Andy Duong discussed with Juarez via text in October 2022 as evidence supporting their claim. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense team called into question who paid for negative campaign mailers attacking Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents, which prosecutors say are central to the alleged bribery scheme. Government attorneys have alleged the Duongs paid Mario Juarez, a former business partner, to produce them, pointing to a $75,000 payment that Andy Duong discussed with Juarez via text in October 2022 as evidence supporting their claim. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But on Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense attorney Erik Babcock pointed to expense filings that Juarez filed with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that indicate he spent a total of around $110,000 on two mailers attacking Thao’s opponents, Loren Taylor and Ignacio De La Fuente. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But on Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense attorney Erik Babcock pointed to expense filings that Juarez filed with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that indicate he spent a total of around $110,000 on two mailers attacking Thao’s opponents, Loren Taylor and Ignacio De La Fuente. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098354\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong exits the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Sheng Thao, the former mayor of Oakland, was criminally indicted by a federal grand jury after an FBI corruption investigation that centered on City Hall and the powerful Duong family that operates the city’s curbside recycling program, a source familiar with the matter told the Chronicle.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098354\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong exits the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Sheng Thao, the former mayor of Oakland, was criminally indicted by a federal grand jury after an FBI corruption investigation that centered on City Hall and the powerful Duong family that operates the city’s curbside recycling program, a source familiar with the matter told the Chronicle.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“So he didn’t claim to have spent $75,000, did he?” Babcock asked the FBI agent.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay confirmed that was not the total he wrote on his FPPC forms. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Later, though, Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedeman, an attorney for the prosecution, directed Barclay back to the document from Juarez’s iCloud account that lays out the alleged “Deal Points for Sheng Thao.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Later, though, Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedeman, an attorney for the prosecution, directed Barclay back to the document from Juarez’s iCloud account that lays out the alleged “Deal Points for Sheng Thao.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It includes two line items related to the mailers: a $75,000 payment from California Waste Solutions, and a separate $40,000 advance payment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It includes two line items related to the mailers: a $75,000 payment from California Waste Solutions, and a separate $40,000 advance payment.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That roughly adds up to $110,000, right?” she asked Barclay. \u003c/p>\n",
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Andre Jones’ Evolutionary Homes job wasn’t on his computer",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andre Jones’ Evolutionary Homes job wasn’t on his computer\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andre Jones’ Evolutionary Homes job wasn’t on his computer\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors also asked Barclay earlier in her testimony about a number of devices that the FBI confiscated during a series of early morning raids on June 20, 2024, which included the home Thao and Jones shared, both David and Andy Duong’s homes, and the waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Prosecutors also asked Barclay earlier in her testimony about a number of devices that the FBI confiscated during a series of early morning raids on June 20, 2024, which included the home Thao and Jones shared, both David and Andy Duong’s homes, and the waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One of the pieces of evidence was Jones’ laptop. On it, Barclay said, investigators found no references to Evolutionary Homes — a housing startup Andy Duong founded with Juarez — where Jones purported to work as a government relations specialist. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One of the pieces of evidence was Jones’ laptop. On it, Barclay said, investigators found no references to Evolutionary Homes — a housing startup Andy Duong founded with Juarez — where Jones purported to work as a government relations specialist. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Between December 2022 and January 2023, Jones cashed five checks from Juarez totaling $20,000 for his work at the housing startup, according to a government indictment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Between December 2022 and January 2023, Jones cashed five checks from Juarez totaling $20,000 for his work at the housing startup, according to a government indictment. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But in January 2024, Jones was not listed on an organizational chart for the company, which Cecilia Mendez, a former California Waste Solutions employee and Juarez’s onetime romantic partner, sent to the Duongs and others.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But in January 2024, Jones was not listed on an organizational chart for the company, which Cecilia Mendez, a former California Waste Solutions employee and Juarez’s onetime romantic partner, sent to the Duongs and others.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors say the multiple checks from Evolutionary Homes and another of Juarez’s companies, called Ciudad Holdings, were bribes, but Jones’ attorneys have characterized them as advances to “keep him available” to work as a consultant selling contracts to municipalities once their container homes were ready to be sold.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Prosecutors say the multiple checks from Evolutionary Homes and another of Juarez’s companies, called Ciudad Holdings, were bribes, but Jones’ attorneys have characterized them as advances to “keep him available” to work as a consultant selling contracts to municipalities once their container homes were ready to be sold.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jones’ attorney spent time during his opening statement pointing to Evolutionary Homes presentations that list him as an employee, as well as a note that indicates he was going to get business cards made by the company. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Jones’ attorney spent time during his opening statement pointing to Evolutionary Homes presentations that list him as an employee, as well as a note that indicates he was going to get business cards made by the company. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During his cross examination of Barclay on Tuesday, Jones’ attorney Mark Goldrosen pointed out that a contact page on the Evolutionary Homes website didn’t include a comprehensive list of employees — it didn’t have information for reaching Cecily Frost, an Evolutionary Homes representative, or Michael Duong, who he suggested was the company’s chief financial officer. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>During his cross examination of Barclay on Tuesday, Jones’ attorney Mark Goldrosen pointed out that a contact page on the Evolutionary Homes website didn’t include a comprehensive list of employees — it didn’t have information for reaching Cecily Frost, an Evolutionary Homes representative, or Michael Duong, who he suggested was the company’s chief financial officer. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Investigators did, however, find evidence on Jones’ computer that he worked for another company, called Kearns and West, a national communications firm.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Investigators did, however, find evidence on Jones’ computer that he worked for another company, called Kearns and West, a national communications firm.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay’s testimony also allowed for the admission of a number of text exchanges between Thao and Jones regarding their bills. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the course of at least two years when they lived together, Thao sent messages to Jones multiple times reminding him to pay rent. At one point, their landlord told them that, after several months when Jones didn’t pay his portion of the rent on time, the couple would need to provide a cashier’s check, instead of using online deposits. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Over the course of at least two years when they lived together, Thao sent messages to Jones multiple times reminding him to pay rent. At one point, their landlord told them that, after several months when Jones didn’t pay his portion of the rent on time, the couple would need to provide a cashier’s check, instead of using online deposits. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a co-defendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a co-defendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Throughout the trial, prosecutors have raised questions about Jones’ financial status. In 2021 and 2022, Jones and Thao split rent payments or Thao paid them in their entirety. But beginning in January 2023, when Jones began receiving payments from Evolutionary Homes, he began to cover the couple’s monthly rent payments.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Throughout the trial, prosecutors have raised questions about Jones’ financial status. In 2021 and 2022, Jones and Thao split rent payments or Thao paid them in their entirety. But beginning in January 2023, when Jones began receiving payments from Evolutionary Homes, he began to cover the couple’s monthly rent payments.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have tried to link that shift — Jones’ payments toward his and Thao’s living expenses — to his receiving money for a “now-show” job from Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have tried to link that shift — Jones’ payments toward his and Thao’s living expenses — to his receiving money for a “now-show” job from Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In April 2022, Thao texted Jones: “I don’t have enough to cover rent by myself this month. Your mom hasn’t pitched in on any bills either.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In April 2022, Thao texted Jones: “I don’t have enough to cover rent by myself this month. Your mom hasn’t pitched in on any bills either.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In May 2023, Thao texted Jones that PG&E wanted $6,000 to turn their power back on, and in another message from November 2023, she said: “Please don’t turn on heater, please turn off lights and electricity. The bill this month is 3000 I cannot pay that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In May 2023, Thao texted Jones that PG&E wanted $6,000 to turn their power back on, and in another message from November 2023, she said: “Please don’t turn on heater, please turn off lights and electricity. The bill this month is 3000 I cannot pay that.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home unit for people who are exiting homelessness. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103337\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home unit for people who are exiting homelessness. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Nov. 29 of that year, Jones deposited a check from Evolutionary Homes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Nov. 29 of that year, Jones deposited a check from Evolutionary Homes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Goldrosen tried to dispel prosecutors’ connection between Jones’ bill payment and checks from Evolutionary Homes. He asked Barclay if she had looked into Jones’ and Thao’s financial records to see if they paid a $3,000 bill to PG&E between Nov. 14, when Thao sent a text about that bill, and Nov. 29, when Jones deposited the check from Evolutionary homes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Goldrosen tried to dispel prosecutors’ connection between Jones’ bill payment and checks from Evolutionary Homes. He asked Barclay if she had looked into Jones’ and Thao’s financial records to see if they paid a $3,000 bill to PG&E between Nov. 14, when Thao sent a text about that bill, and Nov. 29, when Jones deposited the check from Evolutionary homes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Wouldn’t it have been important to see if any payments were made to that PG&E bill before the payment from Evolutionary Homes?” Goldrosen asked. “But you yourself didn’t look into that, did you?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Wouldn’t it have been important to see if any payments were made to that PG&E bill before the payment from Evolutionary Homes?” Goldrosen asked. “But you yourself didn’t look into that, did you?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay said she did not. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Barclay said she did not. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Barclay says Juarez accused others of bribes",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barclay says Juarez accused others of bribes\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barclay says Juarez accused others of bribes\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Monday, Barclay told the court that in a series of interviews, Juarez alleged “that other local politicians had taken bribes.” Tsai then went on to ask her if the government had interviewed a number of current and former Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro elected officials. She said it had not, except in one case; that politician declined to be interviewed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Monday, Barclay told the court that in a series of interviews, Juarez alleged “that other local politicians had taken bribes.” Tsai then went on to ask her if the government had interviewed a number of current and former Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro elected officials. She said it had not, except in one case; that politician declined to be interviewed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>KQED is not naming the elected officials, because the claims have not been substantiated. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>KQED is not naming the elected officials, because the claims have not been substantiated. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Defense attorneys have repeatedly attempted to discredit Juarez’s allegations to cast further doubt on Juarez as a witness. He’s been called a “consummate hustler” with a “decades-long history” of fraudulent behavior.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Defense attorneys have repeatedly attempted to discredit Juarez’s allegations to cast further doubt on Juarez as a witness. He’s been called a “consummate hustler” with a “decades-long history” of fraudulent behavior.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Andy Duong’s secret recordings enter the courtroom",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andy Duong’s secret recordings enter the courtroom\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andy Duong’s secret recordings enter the courtroom\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Last week, Barclay identified the voices in a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">phone calls\u003c/a> Andy Duong recorded with Thao, Oakland Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas and others — many of which were seemingly recorded without their knowledge. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Last week, Barclay identified the voices in a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">phone calls\u003c/a> Andy Duong recorded with Thao, Oakland Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas and others — many of which were seemingly recorded without their knowledge. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jenkins previously told KQED it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the call because he is a government witness. Bas is also expected to testify later in the trial. Neither politician has been accused of wrongdoing. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Jenkins previously told KQED it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the call because he is a government witness. Bas is also expected to testify later in the trial. Neither politician has been accused of wrongdoing. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098817\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The California Waste Solutions headquarters at 1211 Embarcadero, in Oakland, on Sept. 8, 2026. The company provides curbside recycling service in Oakland.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098817\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The California Waste Solutions headquarters at 1211 Embarcadero, in Oakland, on Sept. 8, 2026. The company provides curbside recycling service in Oakland.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In one phone conversation between Thao and Andy Duong in April 2019, made public in court filings \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">last month\u003c/a>, Thao told him about a confidential conversation the Oakland City Council had regarding a legal dispute with his family’s recycling company, California Waste Solutions. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In one phone conversation between Thao and Andy Duong in April 2019, made public in court filings \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">last month\u003c/a>, Thao told him about a confidential conversation the Oakland City Council had regarding a legal dispute with his family’s recycling company, California Waste Solutions. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2017, Oakland sued the company for allegedly overcharging rate payers. The recycling vendor countersued, alleging Oakland breached its contract, and the parties settled in 2021 with California Waste Solutions \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/08/09/cws-oakland-lawsuit-recycling-contract-duong-fbi/\">agreeing to pay ratepayers $6 million\u003c/a> in alleged overcharges. The city of Oakland paid the company nearly $2 million and released it from agreements the company made to pay for waste studies and community outreach totaling about $1.5 million.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2017, Oakland sued the company for allegedly overcharging rate payers. The recycling vendor countersued, alleging Oakland breached its contract, and the parties settled in 2021 with California Waste Solutions \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/08/09/cws-oakland-lawsuit-recycling-contract-duong-fbi/\">agreeing to pay ratepayers $6 million\u003c/a> in alleged overcharges. The city of Oakland paid the company nearly $2 million and released it from agreements the company made to pay for waste studies and community outreach totaling about $1.5 million.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During that litigation, in 2019, Thao told Andy Duong that multiple council members had questions about a potential refund his family’s company could have been required to give ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>During that litigation, in 2019, Thao told Andy Duong that multiple council members had questions about a potential refund his family’s company could have been required to give ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao, who was then a first-term city councilmember, advised Andy Duong on how to prepare for a meeting the following day: “This is what you guys need to do, OK? You guys need to prepare and talk amongst yourselves and how to figure out how to do this.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Thao, who was then a first-term city councilmember, advised Andy Duong on how to prepare for a meeting the following day: “This is what you guys need to do, OK? You guys need to prepare and talk amongst yourselves and how to figure out how to do this.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao speaks during a rally against her recall at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland on Oct. 15, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103152\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao speaks during a rally against her recall at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland on Oct. 15, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao goes on to say that she, Andy Duong, and others attending the meeting, who aren’t explicitly named, should meet in a private place for lunch, “because we don’t really want to be seen with you guys.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Thao goes on to say that she, Andy Duong, and others attending the meeting, who aren’t explicitly named, should meet in a private place for lunch, “because we don’t really want to be seen with you guys.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In another call from September 2023, Thao tells Andy Duong that he and his business partners will have to “pick and choose” between her support and that of two council members at the time, Janani Ramachandran and Treva Reid. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In another call from September 2023, Thao tells Andy Duong that he and his business partners will have to “pick and choose” between her support and that of two council members at the time, Janani Ramachandran and Treva Reid. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m not f–king with those bitches, they don’t do me any favors at all,” Thao can be heard saying on the call.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“I’m not f–king with those bitches, they don’t do me any favors at all,” Thao can be heard saying on the call.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "What comes next",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What comes next\u003c/h2>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What comes next\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After Barclay wrapped up her lengthy testimony, FBI intelligence analyst Katherine Higgons briefly testified Tuesday about participating in the June 20, 2024, search of Andy Duong’s house. She said she found a watch and chain in Andy Duong’s garage, which Juarez has alleged was stolen from him during a May 2024 altercation with the Duongs. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After Barclay wrapped up her lengthy testimony, FBI intelligence analyst Katherine Higgons briefly testified Tuesday about participating in the June 20, 2024, search of Andy Duong’s house. She said she found a watch and chain in Andy Duong’s garage, which Juarez has alleged was stolen from him during a May 2024 altercation with the Duongs. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, Cecilia Mendez will testify. She is Juarez’s former romantic partner and an Evolutionary Homes representative. Prosecutors say she made a number of recordings of Evolutionary Homes board meetings they plan to play when she takes the stand. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, Cecilia Mendez will testify. She is Juarez’s former romantic partner and an Evolutionary Homes representative. Prosecutors say she made a number of recordings of Evolutionary Homes board meetings they plan to play when she takes the stand. \u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "After prosecutors introduced thousands of pages of private text messages, recorded phone calls and digital files, defense attorneys tried to poke holes in what the government believes the evidence proves.",
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"title": "Thao Trial: Defense Attorneys Poke Holes in FBI’s Oakland Corruption Investigation | KQED",
"description": "After prosecutors introduced thousands of pages of private text messages, recorded phone calls and digital files, defense attorneys tried to poke holes in what the government believes the evidence proves.",
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"headline": "Thao Trial: Defense Attorneys Poke Holes in FBI’s Oakland Corruption Investigation",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the course of four days in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103084/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-is-going-on-trial-for-bribery-heres-what-you-need-to-know\">federal corruption trial\u003c/a> of former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> Mayor Sheng Thao, an FBI agent’s testimony has allowed the court to admit thousands of pages of private texts, digital files and audio recordings.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week, defense attorneys tried to cast doubt on what the government believes that evidence proves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Special FBI Agent Katherine Barclay completed her testimony on Tuesday, after providing nearly 20 hours of testimony. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son Andy Duong face bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges for allegedly promising to trade campaign support for Thao’s mayoral campaign, and a $300,000 bribe for favorable treatment for the Duongs’ businesses and interests. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All four have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here’s what Barclay’s testimony and cross-examination revealed so far about the alleged quid pro quo:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who paid what for 2022 campaign mailers?\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense team called into question who paid for negative campaign mailers attacking Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents, which prosecutors say are central to the alleged bribery scheme. Government attorneys have alleged the Duongs paid Mario Juarez, a former business partner, to produce them, pointing to a $75,000 payment that Andy Duong discussed with Juarez via text in October 2022 as evidence supporting their claim. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But on Tuesday, Andy Duong’s defense attorney Erik Babcock pointed to expense filings that Juarez filed with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that indicate he spent a total of around $110,000 on two mailers attacking Thao’s opponents, Loren Taylor and Ignacio De La Fuente. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098354\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-16-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong exits the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Sheng Thao, the former mayor of Oakland, was criminally indicted by a federal grand jury after an FBI corruption investigation that centered on City Hall and the powerful Duong family that operates the city’s curbside recycling program, a source familiar with the matter told the Chronicle. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“So he didn’t claim to have spent $75,000, did he?” Babcock asked the FBI agent.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay confirmed that was not the total he wrote on his FPPC forms. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later, though, Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedeman, an attorney for the prosecution, directed Barclay back to the document from Juarez’s iCloud account that lays out the alleged “Deal Points for Sheng Thao.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It includes two line items related to the mailers: a $75,000 payment from California Waste Solutions, and a separate $40,000 advance payment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“That roughly adds up to $110,000, right?” she asked Barclay. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Yes,” Barclay said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andre Jones’ Evolutionary Homes job wasn’t on his computer\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors also asked Barclay earlier in her testimony about a number of devices that the FBI confiscated during a series of early morning raids on June 20, 2024, which included the home Thao and Jones shared, both David and Andy Duong’s homes, and the waterfront offices of California Waste Solutions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the pieces of evidence was Jones’ laptop. On it, Barclay said, investigators found no references to Evolutionary Homes — a housing startup Andy Duong founded with Juarez — where Jones purported to work as a government relations specialist. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between December 2022 and January 2023, Jones cashed five checks from Juarez totaling $20,000 for his work at the housing startup, according to a government indictment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in January 2024, Jones was not listed on an organizational chart for the company, which Cecilia Mendez, a former California Waste Solutions employee and Juarez’s onetime romantic partner, sent to the Duongs and others.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors say the multiple checks from Evolutionary Homes and another of Juarez’s companies, called Ciudad Holdings, were bribes, but Jones’ attorneys have characterized them as advances to “keep him available” to work as a consultant selling contracts to municipalities once their container homes were ready to be sold.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones’ attorney spent time during his opening statement pointing to Evolutionary Homes presentations that list him as an employee, as well as a note that indicates he was going to get business cards made by the company. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his cross examination of Barclay on Tuesday, Jones’ attorney Mark Goldrosen pointed out that a contact page on the Evolutionary Homes website didn’t include a comprehensive list of employees — it didn’t have information for reaching Cecily Frost, an Evolutionary Homes representative, or Michael Duong, who he suggested was the company’s chief financial officer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investigators did, however, find evidence on Jones’ computer that he worked for another company, called Kearns and West, a national communications firm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thao and Jones financial struggles come to light\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay’s testimony also allowed for the admission of a number of text exchanges between Thao and Jones regarding their bills. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the course of at least two years when they lived together, Thao sent messages to Jones multiple times reminding him to pay rent. At one point, their landlord told them that, after several months when Jones didn’t pay his portion of the rent on time, the couple would need to provide a cashier’s check, instead of using online deposits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a co-defendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout the trial, prosecutors have raised questions about Jones’ financial status. In 2021 and 2022, Jones and Thao split rent payments or Thao paid them in their entirety. But beginning in January 2023, when Jones began receiving payments from Evolutionary Homes, he began to cover the couple’s monthly rent payments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors have tried to link that shift — Jones’ payments toward his and Thao’s living expenses — to his receiving money for a “now-show” job from Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April 2022, Thao texted Jones: “I don’t have enough to cover rent by myself this month. Your mom hasn’t pitched in on any bills either.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In May 2023, Thao texted Jones that PG&E wanted $6,000 to turn their power back on, and in another message from November 2023, she said: “Please don’t turn on heater, please turn off lights and electricity. The bill this month is 3000 I cannot pay that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Evolutionary_Homes_PROJECT_PRESENTATION_-_EHLLC_Model_ONE-copy-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Evolutionary Homes’ rendering of a proposed container home unit for people who are exiting homelessness. (Courtesy of Evolutionary Homes)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Nov. 29 of that year, Jones deposited a check from Evolutionary Homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, Goldrosen tried to dispel prosecutors’ connection between Jones’ bill payment and checks from Evolutionary Homes. He asked Barclay if she had looked into Jones’ and Thao’s financial records to see if they paid a $3,000 bill to PG&E between Nov. 14, when Thao sent a text about that bill, and Nov. 29, when Jones deposited the check from Evolutionary homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Wouldn’t it have been important to see if any payments were made to that PG&E bill before the payment from Evolutionary Homes?” Goldrosen asked. “But you yourself didn’t look into that, did you?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay said she did not. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barclay says Juarez accused others of bribes\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, Barclay told the court that in a series of interviews, Juarez alleged “that other local politicians had taken bribes.” Tsai then went on to ask her if the government had interviewed a number of current and former Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro elected officials. She said it had not, except in one case; that politician declined to be interviewed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED is not naming the elected officials, because the claims have not been substantiated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense attorneys have repeatedly attempted to discredit Juarez’s allegations to cast further doubt on Juarez as a witness. He’s been called a “consummate hustler” with a “decades-long history” of fraudulent behavior.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andy Duong’s secret recordings enter the courtroom\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Barclay identified the voices in a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">phone calls\u003c/a> Andy Duong recorded with Thao, Oakland Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas and others — many of which were seemingly recorded without their knowledge. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins previously told KQED it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the call because he is a government witness. Bas is also expected to testify later in the trial. Neither politician has been accused of wrongdoing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098817\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/090826_ShengThao-Trial-File_GH_011_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The California Waste Solutions headquarters at 1211 Embarcadero, in Oakland, on Sept. 8, 2026. The company provides curbside recycling service in Oakland. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one phone conversation between Thao and Andy Duong in April 2019, made public in court filings \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101387/sheng-thao-case-recordings-reveal-taped-phone-calls-fbi-informant-appearing-to-describe-bribes\">last month\u003c/a>, Thao told him about a confidential conversation the Oakland City Council had regarding a legal dispute with his family’s recycling company, California Waste Solutions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2017, Oakland sued the company for allegedly overcharging rate payers. The recycling vendor countersued, alleging Oakland breached its contract, and the parties settled in 2021 with California Waste Solutions \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/08/09/cws-oakland-lawsuit-recycling-contract-duong-fbi/\">agreeing to pay ratepayers $6 million\u003c/a> in alleged overcharges. The city of Oakland paid the company nearly $2 million and released it from agreements the company made to pay for waste studies and community outreach totaling about $1.5 million.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During that litigation, in 2019, Thao told Andy Duong that multiple council members had questions about a potential refund his family’s company could have been required to give ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, who was then a first-term city councilmember, advised Andy Duong on how to prepare for a meeting the following day: “This is what you guys need to do, OK? You guys need to prepare and talk amongst yourselves and how to figure out how to do this.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/241015-OaklandChinatownThaoRecall-21-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao speaks during a rally against her recall at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland on Oct. 15, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao goes on to say that she, Andy Duong, and others attending the meeting, who aren’t explicitly named, should meet in a private place for lunch, “because we don’t really want to be seen with you guys.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In another call from September 2023, Thao tells Andy Duong that he and his business partners will have to “pick and choose” between her support and that of two council members at the time, Janani Ramachandran and Treva Reid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m not f–king with those bitches, they don’t do me any favors at all,” Thao can be heard saying on the call.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What comes next\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Barclay wrapped up her lengthy testimony, FBI intelligence analyst Katherine Higgons briefly testified Tuesday about participating in the June 20, 2024, search of Andy Duong’s house. She said she found a watch and chain in Andy Duong’s garage, which Juarez has alleged was stolen from him during a May 2024 altercation with the Duongs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, Cecilia Mendez will testify. She is Juarez’s former romantic partner and an Evolutionary Homes representative. Prosecutors say she made a number of recordings of Evolutionary Homes board meetings they plan to play when she takes the stand. \u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "oakland-immigration-arrest-raises-questions-about-ice-free-zones-training-at-hospitals",
"title": "East Bay Immigration Arrest Raises Questions About ‘ICE-Free Zones,’ Training at Hospitals",
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"headTitle": "East Bay Immigration Arrest Raises Questions About ‘ICE-Free Zones,’ Training at Hospitals | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After immigration authorities detained a man in Emeryville last week and brought him to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/highland-hospital\">Alameda County hospital\u003c/a>, some medical staff said they didn’t receive legally required training that would have helped them respond to enforcement activity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several staff members at Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus in Oakland told administrators in a letter that the Oct. 16 arrival of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and a detainee “highlighted major hazards to the rights and safety of our patients.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Immigration agents brought a man to Highland for treatment after an agent allegedly tackled him and fractured six of his ribs, said Nikolas De Bremaeker, an attorney at Centro Legal De La Raza who represents the man. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">De Bremaeker and some employees said agents allegedly tried to obstruct access to counsel, to direct medical treatment and asked staff for medical information. The agent who tackled the patient, the attorney said, had been “sitting on his bed, grinning at him.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s incredibly scary,” De Bremaeker told KQED. “It’s just unacceptable for ICE agents to be terrorizing folks inside a hospital.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1505\" height=\"1432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105985\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d.jpg 1505w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d-160x152.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1505px) 100vw, 1505px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One side of an Alameda Health System employee’s “badge buddy” that outlines how to respond to immigration authorities when they show up to one of the facilities. (Courtesy of Iman Khalil)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About two dozen community members were on the lookout for agents on Thursday morning for hours, being directed by others to make noise if immigration authorities exited or entered the facility. They’d been showing up since Monday, an organizer said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Alameda Health System, which Highland is a part of, declined to comment on allegations specific to De Bremaeker’s client’s care, citing patient confidentiality. But said, generally, law enforcement does not direct treatment and the system is complying with all laws and requirements concerning immigration enforcement in its facilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an earlier statement to KQED about the ICE activity, AHS said that it activated an Incident Command Center and that security personnel were on site monitoring developments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after a planned demonstration against ICE’s presence got underway on Friday, the health system told KQED that no patients at Highland Hospital were in ICE custody, and ICE personnel were not present on the property. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alameda Health System’s training falls short, staff says\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some staff members told AHS in the letter that they “at all levels, remain confused and consistently express a lack of clarity on policy when patients are brought in civil detention.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“This is out of step with current best practices in the state of California,” the staff members wrote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb81\">Senate Bill 81\u003c/a>, which took effect in September 2025, requires medical health care providers to restrict certain immigration information from being shared and, as part of new restrictions to nonpublic areas, facilities must inform staff on how to respond to requests to access sites and establish procedures for receiving visitors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12074474\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus is seen through flowering branches in Oakland on Feb. 24, 2026. The hospital is part of Alameda Health System. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But staff told administrators the hospital system isn’t in compliance with that law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ansel Schmidt, a physical therapist at the Highland Hospital, isn’t on the patient’s care team, but helped draft the letter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m not sure that I’ve received anything that I would call training,” Schmidt told KQED. What Schmidt has received is a “badge buddy,” or a reference guide, that he said implies staff can cooperate with ICE. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A badge buddy reviewed by KQED shows that staff are instructed to notify an administrator when a patient in ICE custody shows up for care. Providers request agents leave during evaluation, inform patients of their rights and, if they don’t meet admission criteria, can be handed off to the ICE control office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schmidt said that emails about responding to immigration activity have left him and others feeling “really confused and isolated,” because that “isn’t a training.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to staff concerns over training and what training is already in place, AHS said staff are told to “promptly escalate” situations through the appropriate channels where immigration authorities are present at any facility.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We reinforce these procedures through staff communications, training, scenario-based exercises, desktop training, and quick-reference ‘badge buddies’ that staff can keep with their identification badges,” AHS said. “The protocol has also been reviewed in staff webinar forums, including this week, and recordings are available to staff on our intranet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iman Khalil, a respiratory therapist at San Leandro Hospital, part of the Alameda Health System, said staff members receive minimal training about what to do when immigration authorities show up. Khalil received the same badge and emails Schmidt did.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Allowing the agents in the hospital … undoes all that training,” Khalil said. “You really don’t think they’ll even allow the agents in the hospital. But here we are.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AHS CEO James Jackson told staff that AHS believed the man in ICE’s custody at the hospital for the last week was part of the agency’s civil immigration enforcement authority and called on personnel to review established immigration response protocols, according to an Oct. 19 email obtained and reviewed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas said a scheduled Oct. 27 joint meeting between county supervisors and the Alameda Health System Board of Trustees is an opportunity “to push for doing everything possible to enforce our policies that protect immigrant communities.” Fortunato Bas said officials will discuss budget, governance and compliance with local and state policies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">ICE-free zone?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Highland Hospital, which sits on county property, also falls under Alameda County’s “ICE-free zone” ordinance that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">County supervisors and advocates touted the policy, of which similar ones have been adopted across the Bay Area, as a way to push back against violent and sometimes deadly actions by immigration agents during the second Trump administration. In January, agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota during a surge of immigration enforcement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez and other officials have also noted the limits of just how far the ICE-free zone can go. It doesn’t prevent immigration officials from actually being on county property, Sanchez \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/01/28/ice-free-zones-are-coming-to-alameda-county/\">said previously\u003c/a>. Officials in other jurisdictions with these “zones” have even referred to them as symbolic — or \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/04/ice-free-zones-community-wide-warning-system-weighed-in-richmond-amid-trump-crackdowns/\">a way to create\u003c/a> “false expectations.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1577\" height=\"1560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd.jpg 1577w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd-160x158.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd-1536x1519.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1577px) 100vw, 1577px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One side of an Alameda Health System employee’s “badge buddy” that outlines how to respond to immigration authorities when they show up to one of the facilities. (Courtesy of Iman Khalil)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">De Bremaeker said his client is still in ICE custody as of Thursday afternoon. Another man he represents was detained by ICE in the San Antonio neighborhood in Oakland on the same day, before being taken to another hospital for injuries that De Bremaeker said were sustained because of the officers’ actions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two cases are part of an “unprecedented escalation” of violence from ICE, De Bremaeker said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oakland City Council member Charlene Wang said in a social media video Friday afternoon that she was outraged by the arrests. She said she had been in touch with AHS administration to see if there were any legal grounds to remove immigration authorities from the property, which Wang said they “[didn’t] know the answer to yet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attorney called on federal lawmakers to launch a congressional inquiry into ICE’s actions and, in particular, the agency’s activity in hospitals. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They have been occupying these hospitals for days, creating an incredible threat to community members, terrifying folks who need medical care from going to the hospital,” De Bremaeker said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ICE said that De Bremaeker’s client — who the agency characterized as an “illegal alien” — was arrested as part of a targeted enforcement operation. During which, the agency said the detainee tried to assault officers and refused lawful commands. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Officers relied on their training to control the situation,” an ICE spokesperson said, adding that De Bremaeker’s client disclosed a preexisting injury of falling off a ladder two days prior. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agency said, like other law enforcement agencies, it is standard procedure for ICE to accompany detainees for the safety of staff and public. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Renee Coe, with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, is among the community members who came out to keep watch for ICE at the hospital. She said some community members are scared to show up to the hospital because of federal agents’ presence, but urged them not to put off medical care. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AHS said its property is not being used as a staging area, operations base or processing location for immigration enforcement activities, and the immigration vehicles currently on Highland property are present “only in connection with a patient who is in immigration enforcement custody.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fortunato Bas told community members outside the hospital on Friday that her understanding of the ICE presence on the property was the same as the health system’s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“At any given time, I understand they only had two agents … maintaining legal custody of the patient at any given time,” Fortunato Bas said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 100 Oakland residents held an emergency press conference at 6 p.m. on Friday in front of Highland to demand accountability for local authorities, security contracting with the facility and AHS for “continuously” assisting ICE operations at the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>KQED’s\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bkrans\">\u003cem>Brian Krans\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>De Bremaeker and some employees said agents allegedly tried to obstruct access to counsel, to direct medical treatment and asked staff for medical information. The agent who tackled the patient, the attorney said, had been “sitting on his bed, grinning at him.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s incredibly scary,” De Bremaeker told KQED. “It’s just unacceptable for ICE agents to be terrorizing folks inside a hospital.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105985\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d.jpg 1505w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d-160x152.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One side of an Alameda Health System employee’s “badge buddy” that outlines how to respond to immigration authorities when they show up to one of the facilities. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Iman Khalil)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>About two dozen community members were on the lookout for agents on Thursday morning for hours, being directed by others to make noise if immigration authorities exited or entered the facility. They’d been showing up since Monday, an organizer said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Alameda Health System, which Highland is a part of, declined to comment on allegations specific to De Bremaeker’s client’s care, citing patient confidentiality. But said, generally, law enforcement does not direct treatment and the system is complying with all laws and requirements concerning immigration enforcement in its facilities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Alameda Health System, which Highland is a part of, declined to comment on allegations specific to De Bremaeker’s client’s care, citing patient confidentiality. But said, generally, law enforcement does not direct treatment and the system is complying with all laws and requirements concerning immigration enforcement in its facilities. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an earlier statement to KQED about the ICE activity, AHS said that it activated an Incident Command Center and that security personnel were on site monitoring developments. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Shortly after a planned demonstration against ICE’s presence got underway on Friday, the health system told KQED that no patients at Highland Hospital were in ICE custody, and ICE personnel were not present on the property. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Shortly after a planned demonstration against ICE’s presence got underway on Friday, the health system told KQED that no patients at Highland Hospital were in ICE custody, and ICE personnel were not present on the property. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some staff members told AHS in the letter that they “at all levels, remain confused and consistently express a lack of clarity on policy when patients are brought in civil detention.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is out of step with current best practices in the state of California,” the staff members wrote. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb81\">Senate Bill 81\u003c/a>, which took effect in September 2025, requires medical health care providers to restrict certain immigration information from being shared and, as part of new restrictions to nonpublic areas, facilities must inform staff on how to respond to requests to access sites and establish procedures for receiving visitors.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb81\">Senate Bill 81\u003c/a>, which took effect in September 2025, requires medical health care providers to restrict certain immigration information from being shared and, as part of new restrictions to nonpublic areas, facilities must inform staff on how to respond to requests to access sites and establish procedures for receiving visitors.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12074474\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus is seen through flowering branches in Oakland on Feb. 24, 2026. The hospital is part of Alameda Health System.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But staff told administrators the hospital system isn’t in compliance with that law. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Ansel Schmidt, a physical therapist at the Highland Hospital, isn’t on the patient’s care team, but helped draft the letter. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’m not sure that I’ve received anything that I would call training,” Schmidt told KQED. What Schmidt has received is a “badge buddy,” or a reference guide, that he said implies staff can cooperate with ICE. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A badge buddy reviewed by KQED shows that staff are instructed to notify an administrator when a patient in ICE custody shows up for care. Providers request agents leave during evaluation, inform patients of their rights and, if they don’t meet admission criteria, can be handed off to the ICE control office. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Schmidt said that emails about responding to immigration activity have left him and others feeling “really confused and isolated,” because that “isn’t a training.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In response to staff concerns over training and what training is already in place, AHS said staff are told to “promptly escalate” situations through the appropriate channels where immigration authorities are present at any facility.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We reinforce these procedures through staff communications, training, scenario-based exercises, desktop training, and quick-reference ‘badge buddies’ that staff can keep with their identification badges,” AHS said. “The protocol has also been reviewed in staff webinar forums, including this week, and recordings are available to staff on our intranet.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Iman Khalil, a respiratory therapist at San Leandro Hospital, part of the Alameda Health System, said staff members receive minimal training about what to do when immigration authorities show up. Khalil received the same badge and emails Schmidt did.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Iman Khalil, a respiratory therapist at San Leandro Hospital, part of the Alameda Health System, said staff members receive minimal training about what to do when immigration authorities show up. Khalil received the same badge and emails Schmidt did.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Allowing the agents in the hospital … undoes all that training,” Khalil said. “You really don’t think they’ll even allow the agents in the hospital. But here we are.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Allowing the agents in the hospital … undoes all that training,” Khalil said. “You really don’t think they’ll even allow the agents in the hospital. But here we are.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AHS CEO James Jackson told staff that AHS believed the man in ICE’s custody at the hospital for the last week was part of the agency’s civil immigration enforcement authority and called on personnel to review established immigration response protocols, according to an Oct. 19 email obtained and reviewed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>AHS CEO James Jackson told staff that AHS believed the man in ICE’s custody at the hospital for the last week was part of the agency’s civil immigration enforcement authority and called on personnel to review established immigration response protocols, according to an Oct. 19 email obtained and reviewed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas said a scheduled Oct. 27 joint meeting between county supervisors and the Alameda Health System Board of Trustees is an opportunity “to push for doing everything possible to enforce our policies that protect immigrant communities.” Fortunato Bas said officials will discuss budget, governance and compliance with local and state policies.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas said a scheduled Oct. 27 joint meeting between county supervisors and the Alameda Health System Board of Trustees is an opportunity “to push for doing everything possible to enforce our policies that protect immigrant communities.” Fortunato Bas said officials will discuss budget, governance and compliance with local and state policies.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Highland Hospital, which sits on county property, also falls under Alameda County’s “ICE-free zone” ordinance that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>County supervisors and advocates touted the policy, of which similar ones have been adopted across the Bay Area, as a way to push back against violent and sometimes deadly actions by immigration agents during the second Trump administration. In January, agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota during a surge of immigration enforcement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez and other officials have also noted the limits of just how far the ICE-free zone can go. It doesn’t prevent immigration officials from actually being on county property, Sanchez \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/01/28/ice-free-zones-are-coming-to-alameda-county/\">said previously\u003c/a>. Officials in other jurisdictions with these “zones” have even referred to them as symbolic — or \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/04/ice-free-zones-community-wide-warning-system-weighed-in-richmond-amid-trump-crackdowns/\">a way to create\u003c/a> “false expectations.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez and other officials have also noted the limits of just how far the ICE-free zone can go. It doesn’t prevent immigration officials from actually being on county property, Sanchez \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/01/28/ice-free-zones-are-coming-to-alameda-county/\">said previously\u003c/a>. Officials in other jurisdictions with these “zones” have even referred to them as symbolic — or \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/04/ice-free-zones-community-wide-warning-system-weighed-in-richmond-amid-trump-crackdowns/\">a way to create\u003c/a> “false expectations.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd.jpg 1577w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd-160x158.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd-1536x1519.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One side of an Alameda Health System employee’s “badge buddy” that outlines how to respond to immigration authorities when they show up to one of the facilities. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Iman Khalil)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>De Bremaeker said his client is still in ICE custody as of Thursday afternoon. Another man he represents was detained by ICE in the San Antonio neighborhood in Oakland on the same day, before being taken to another hospital for injuries that De Bremaeker said were sustained because of the officers’ actions. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The two cases are part of an “unprecedented escalation” of violence from ICE, De Bremaeker said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oakland City Council member Charlene Wang said in a social media video Friday afternoon that she was outraged by the arrests. She said she had been in touch with AHS administration to see if there were any legal grounds to remove immigration authorities from the property, which Wang said they “[didn’t] know the answer to yet.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Oakland City Council member Charlene Wang said in a social media video Friday afternoon that she was outraged by the arrests. She said she had been in touch with AHS administration to see if there were any legal grounds to remove immigration authorities from the property, which Wang said they “[didn’t] know the answer to yet.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The attorney called on federal lawmakers to launch a congressional inquiry into ICE’s actions and, in particular, the agency’s activity in hospitals. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They have been occupying these hospitals for days, creating an incredible threat to community members, terrifying folks who need medical care from going to the hospital,” De Bremaeker said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>ICE said that De Bremaeker’s client — who the agency characterized as an “illegal alien” — was arrested as part of a targeted enforcement operation. During which, the agency said the detainee tried to assault officers and refused lawful commands. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Officers relied on their training to control the situation,” an ICE spokesperson said, adding that De Bremaeker’s client disclosed a preexisting injury of falling off a ladder two days prior. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The agency said, like other law enforcement agencies, it is standard procedure for ICE to accompany detainees for the safety of staff and public. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Renee Coe, with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, is among the community members who came out to keep watch for ICE at the hospital. She said some community members are scared to show up to the hospital because of federal agents’ presence, but urged them not to put off medical care. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Renee Coe, with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, is among the community members who came out to keep watch for ICE at the hospital. She said some community members are scared to show up to the hospital because of federal agents’ presence, but urged them not to put off medical care. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AHS said its property is not being used as a staging area, operations base or processing location for immigration enforcement activities, and the immigration vehicles currently on Highland property are present “only in connection with a patient who is in immigration enforcement custody.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>AHS said its property is not being used as a staging area, operations base or processing location for immigration enforcement activities, and the immigration vehicles currently on Highland property are present “only in connection with a patient who is in immigration enforcement custody.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Fortunato Bas told community members outside the hospital on Friday that her understanding of the ICE presence on the property was the same as the health system’s.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“At any given time, I understand they only had two agents … maintaining legal custody of the patient at any given time,” Fortunato Bas said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>About 100 Oakland residents held an emergency press conference at 6 p.m. on Friday in front of Highland to demand accountability for local authorities, security contracting with the facility and AHS for “continuously” assisting ICE operations at the hospital.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bkrans\">\u003cem>Brian Krans\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Oakland’s Highland Hospital staff and community members expressed concerns after ICE agents allegedly brought a patient in with six fractured ribs last week. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After immigration authorities detained a man in Emeryville last week and brought him to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/highland-hospital\">Alameda County hospital\u003c/a>, some medical staff said they didn’t receive legally required training that would have helped them respond to enforcement activity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several staff members at Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus in Oakland told administrators in a letter that the Oct. 16 arrival of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and a detainee “highlighted major hazards to the rights and safety of our patients.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Immigration agents brought a man to Highland for treatment after an agent allegedly tackled him and fractured six of his ribs, said Nikolas De Bremaeker, an attorney at Centro Legal De La Raza who represents the man. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">De Bremaeker and some employees said agents allegedly tried to obstruct access to counsel, to direct medical treatment and asked staff for medical information. The agent who tackled the patient, the attorney said, had been “sitting on his bed, grinning at him.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s incredibly scary,” De Bremaeker told KQED. “It’s just unacceptable for ICE agents to be terrorizing folks inside a hospital.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1505\" height=\"1432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105985\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d.jpg 1505w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-03-5314ee6d-160x152.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1505px) 100vw, 1505px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One side of an Alameda Health System employee’s “badge buddy” that outlines how to respond to immigration authorities when they show up to one of the facilities. (Courtesy of Iman Khalil)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About two dozen community members were on the lookout for agents on Thursday morning for hours, being directed by others to make noise if immigration authorities exited or entered the facility. They’d been showing up since Monday, an organizer said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Alameda Health System, which Highland is a part of, declined to comment on allegations specific to De Bremaeker’s client’s care, citing patient confidentiality. But said, generally, law enforcement does not direct treatment and the system is complying with all laws and requirements concerning immigration enforcement in its facilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an earlier statement to KQED about the ICE activity, AHS said that it activated an Incident Command Center and that security personnel were on site monitoring developments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after a planned demonstration against ICE’s presence got underway on Friday, the health system told KQED that no patients at Highland Hospital were in ICE custody, and ICE personnel were not present on the property. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alameda Health System’s training falls short, staff says\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some staff members told AHS in the letter that they “at all levels, remain confused and consistently express a lack of clarity on policy when patients are brought in civil detention.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“This is out of step with current best practices in the state of California,” the staff members wrote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb81\">Senate Bill 81\u003c/a>, which took effect in September 2025, requires medical health care providers to restrict certain immigration information from being shared and, as part of new restrictions to nonpublic areas, facilities must inform staff on how to respond to requests to access sites and establish procedures for receiving visitors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12074474\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022426_ALAMEDA-COUNTY-HEALTH-CUTS-_GH_010-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus is seen through flowering branches in Oakland on Feb. 24, 2026. The hospital is part of Alameda Health System. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But staff told administrators the hospital system isn’t in compliance with that law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ansel Schmidt, a physical therapist at the Highland Hospital, isn’t on the patient’s care team, but helped draft the letter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’m not sure that I’ve received anything that I would call training,” Schmidt told KQED. What Schmidt has received is a “badge buddy,” or a reference guide, that he said implies staff can cooperate with ICE. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A badge buddy reviewed by KQED shows that staff are instructed to notify an administrator when a patient in ICE custody shows up for care. Providers request agents leave during evaluation, inform patients of their rights and, if they don’t meet admission criteria, can be handed off to the ICE control office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schmidt said that emails about responding to immigration activity have left him and others feeling “really confused and isolated,” because that “isn’t a training.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to staff concerns over training and what training is already in place, AHS said staff are told to “promptly escalate” situations through the appropriate channels where immigration authorities are present at any facility.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We reinforce these procedures through staff communications, training, scenario-based exercises, desktop training, and quick-reference ‘badge buddies’ that staff can keep with their identification badges,” AHS said. “The protocol has also been reviewed in staff webinar forums, including this week, and recordings are available to staff on our intranet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iman Khalil, a respiratory therapist at San Leandro Hospital, part of the Alameda Health System, said staff members receive minimal training about what to do when immigration authorities show up. Khalil received the same badge and emails Schmidt did.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Allowing the agents in the hospital … undoes all that training,” Khalil said. “You really don’t think they’ll even allow the agents in the hospital. But here we are.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AHS CEO James Jackson told staff that AHS believed the man in ICE’s custody at the hospital for the last week was part of the agency’s civil immigration enforcement authority and called on personnel to review established immigration response protocols, according to an Oct. 19 email obtained and reviewed by KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas said a scheduled Oct. 27 joint meeting between county supervisors and the Alameda Health System Board of Trustees is an opportunity “to push for doing everything possible to enforce our policies that protect immigrant communities.” Fortunato Bas said officials will discuss budget, governance and compliance with local and state policies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">ICE-free zone?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Highland Hospital, which sits on county property, also falls under Alameda County’s “ICE-free zone” ordinance that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">County supervisors and advocates touted the policy, of which similar ones have been adopted across the Bay Area, as a way to push back against violent and sometimes deadly actions by immigration agents during the second Trump administration. In January, agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota during a surge of immigration enforcement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez and other officials have also noted the limits of just how far the ICE-free zone can go. It doesn’t prevent immigration officials from actually being on county property, Sanchez \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/01/28/ice-free-zones-are-coming-to-alameda-county/\">said previously\u003c/a>. Officials in other jurisdictions with these “zones” have even referred to them as symbolic — or \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/04/ice-free-zones-community-wide-warning-system-weighed-in-richmond-amid-trump-crackdowns/\">a way to create\u003c/a> “false expectations.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1577\" height=\"1560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd.jpg 1577w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd-160x158.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-Highland-Hospital-SK-02-0b437edd-1536x1519.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1577px) 100vw, 1577px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One side of an Alameda Health System employee’s “badge buddy” that outlines how to respond to immigration authorities when they show up to one of the facilities. (Courtesy of Iman Khalil)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">De Bremaeker said his client is still in ICE custody as of Thursday afternoon. Another man he represents was detained by ICE in the San Antonio neighborhood in Oakland on the same day, before being taken to another hospital for injuries that De Bremaeker said were sustained because of the officers’ actions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two cases are part of an “unprecedented escalation” of violence from ICE, De Bremaeker said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oakland City Council member Charlene Wang said in a social media video Friday afternoon that she was outraged by the arrests. She said she had been in touch with AHS administration to see if there were any legal grounds to remove immigration authorities from the property, which Wang said they “[didn’t] know the answer to yet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attorney called on federal lawmakers to launch a congressional inquiry into ICE’s actions and, in particular, the agency’s activity in hospitals. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They have been occupying these hospitals for days, creating an incredible threat to community members, terrifying folks who need medical care from going to the hospital,” De Bremaeker said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ICE said that De Bremaeker’s client — who the agency characterized as an “illegal alien” — was arrested as part of a targeted enforcement operation. During which, the agency said the detainee tried to assault officers and refused lawful commands. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Officers relied on their training to control the situation,” an ICE spokesperson said, adding that De Bremaeker’s client disclosed a preexisting injury of falling off a ladder two days prior. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agency said, like other law enforcement agencies, it is standard procedure for ICE to accompany detainees for the safety of staff and public. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Renee Coe, with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, is among the community members who came out to keep watch for ICE at the hospital. She said some community members are scared to show up to the hospital because of federal agents’ presence, but urged them not to put off medical care. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AHS said its property is not being used as a staging area, operations base or processing location for immigration enforcement activities, and the immigration vehicles currently on Highland property are present “only in connection with a patient who is in immigration enforcement custody.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fortunato Bas told community members outside the hospital on Friday that her understanding of the ICE presence on the property was the same as the health system’s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“At any given time, I understand they only had two agents … maintaining legal custody of the patient at any given time,” Fortunato Bas said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 100 Oakland residents held an emergency press conference at 6 p.m. on Friday in front of Highland to demand accountability for local authorities, security contracting with the facility and AHS for “continuously” assisting ICE operations at the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>KQED’s\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/bkrans\">\u003cem>Brian Krans\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "oakland-corruption-trial-fbi-agent-expected-to-testify-on-backdoor-dealings-in-city-hall",
"title": "Oakland Corruption Trial: FBI Agent Describes Texts, Photos Seized From Defendants",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Corruption Trial: FBI Agent Describes Texts, Photos Seized From Defendants | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After testimony in the corruption trial involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104960/following-explosive-allegations-testimony-in-ex-oakland-mayors-corruption-trial-continues\">revealed the origins\u003c/a> of the FBI’s city hall probe, a federal agent returned to the witness stand Thursday and shed new light on the evidence the government has in hand. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay spent roughly five hours Thursday describing to the jury the evidence her agency seized in its investigation of Thao and three others, including text messages, photos, videos, phone records, and Apple notes, among other items. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her long-time partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, are facing bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges. All four have pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, Barclay told the jury the FBI’s investigation began in February 2023, following a tip from Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission that businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, a long-time ally of the Duongs, had printed campaign mailers against Thao’s opponents. Barclay relayed that Juarez made statements to the shop owner, saying he was “expecting things in return” from the candidate those mailers were intended to support. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FBI agents exit a home associated with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao during a raid in Oakland, California, on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez has pleaded guilty to participating in the bribery scheme and is expected to serve as the government’s star witness later in the trial.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors say Thao agreed that, if elected, she would help extend California Waste Solutions’ recycling contract with the city of Oakland, appoint favorable city hall staffers to director-level positions and commit the city to contracting with the housing start-up, Evolutionary Homes, that Andy Duong and Juarez cofounded. In exchange, prosecutors allege, Andy and David Duong agreed to fund a negative mailer campaign against Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents and pay $300,000 to Jones for a no-show job.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, prosecutors showed the jury text messages that the defendants exchanged in the lead-up to the 2022 Oakland mayoral election and in the first few months of Thao’s time in office. Jurors also saw an independent contractor agreement between Evolutionary Homes and Jones, detailing advance payments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao’s attorneys have questioned whether the negative mailers actually helped Thao’s campaign, with defense attorney Jeff Tsai asking Thao’s former campaign staffer, Noah Finneburgh, during his testimony Monday if the campaign was happy about the ads when they dropped.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finneburgh said he was unhappy with them, and that “people recognized it was an issue.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1805\" height=\"889\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103161\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022.jpg 1805w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022-1536x757.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1805px) 100vw, 1805px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A screenshot from the website Mario Juarez allegedly created to attack Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor, accessed by the Wayback Machine on Nov. 7, 2022. (Courtesy of Wayback Machine)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tsai suggested that the ad of Thao’s opponent, Loren Taylor, which was photoshopped to darken his skin, played into racist tropes against Black men and could have alienated voters Thao would have wanted to retain. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ethics commission’s tip related to those mailers, however, led the FBI to obtain a search warrant to access Juarez’s Apple iCloud, Barclay said Monday, which included a document he wrote enumerating the deal he allegedly struck with the Duongs and Thao.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, Barclay identified the defendants and Juarez in photos and videos shown to jurors. The prosecution also walked the jury through numerous WhatsApp and text messages from Andy Duong’s phone, which was confiscated from his home during the 2024 raid. The messages appear to reveal how some of the promises played out once Thao took office that prosecutors allege the co-defendants had made.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098343\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Postal police investigate a home tied to David Duong, one of multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the citys contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland, California, on June 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one photo, from December 2022, jurors on Thursday saw photos illustrating what appeared to be a whiteboard at California Waste Solutions with words that included, “Oak 300 units” and “Mayor” along with different monetary amounts and arrows pointing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In February 2023, a month after Thao’s inauguration, Juarez and Andy Duong set up a meeting at California Waste Solutions between David Duong and Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department at the time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors allege that Gallegos was one of the candidates who Thao agreed to elevate to a leadership position in Oakland City Hall at Andy Duong’s and Juarez’s request. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one text exchange shown to the jury on Thursday, Juarez tells Andy Duong, “I wanted him because while at the City he make [sic] sure my projects got done and grants were given to me.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez also texted Andy Duong about taking Gallegos out to party. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What dates are good for you to 1. Have Larry Gallegos come to have lunch at CWS with DD and Family if you wish to have him,” Juarez asked, appearing to refer to David Duong in the message. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In their opening statement, David Duong’s defense argued that the CWS owner didn’t know about the deal his son and Juarez allegedly made with Thao and Jones. Similarly, Thao’s defense has suggested that she had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments — even if it was being discussed by her co-defendants. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Weeks later, on March 10, 2023, the city’s interim city administrator appointed Gallegos the deputy director of Oakland’s housing department, despite concerns from Thao’s former chief of staff, Leigh Hanson. Hanson testified in federal court last week that she raised her concerns with the mayor that Gallegos was not qualified and believed they were on the same page, until she heard he would be appointed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During another exchange in late March 2023, Andy Duong and Juarez appear frustrated with Thao and Jones about going over their heads to communicate with David Duong and alter the terms of their agreement, leading Juarez to send Andy Duong a copy of the “Deal Points” note that the FBI found early in its investigation laying out the alleged quid pro quo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We invested money,” Juarez wrote to Andy Duong on March 26. “Time. Talent.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later that day, Andy Duong replied to Juarez: “Aint nothing free or [sic] front cuz we did all that to help her ass win.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Barclay finishes her testimony, former Assistant City Administrator LaTonda Simmons and former City Administrator Jestin Johnson are expected to take the stand. Thao appointed Johnson in May 2023, and he served throughout her mayorship. He \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091317/oakland-councilmember-proposes-a-409000-severance-for-former-city-administrator\">resigned from the role\u003c/a> in May amid an unrelated text messaging scandal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under Oakland’s governance structure, the administrator oversees city departments and carries out most day-to-day government functions. But they are hired and fired by the mayor, who often gives input on major decisions, including hiring department heads and agreeing to significant contracts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his opening statement, Fine said Johnson will testify that Thao directed him to meet with David Duong multiple times and tour Evolutionary Homes’ showroom — allegedly the only homeless housing vendor she asked him to visit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After testimony in the corruption trial involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104960/following-explosive-allegations-testimony-in-ex-oakland-mayors-corruption-trial-continues\">revealed the origins\u003c/a> of the FBI’s city hall probe, a federal agent returned to the witness stand Thursday and shed new light on the evidence the government has in hand. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay spent roughly five hours Thursday describing to the jury the evidence her agency seized in its investigation of Thao and three others, including text messages, photos, videos, phone records, and Apple notes, among other items. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay spent roughly five hours Thursday describing to the jury the evidence her agency seized in its investigation of Thao and three others, including text messages, photos, videos, phone records, and Apple notes, among other items. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao, her long-time partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, are facing bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges. All four have pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Thao, her long-time partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, are facing bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges. All four have pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Monday, Barclay told the jury the FBI’s investigation began in February 2023, following a tip from Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission that businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, a long-time ally of the Duongs, had printed campaign mailers against Thao’s opponents. Barclay relayed that Juarez made statements to the shop owner, saying he was “expecting things in return” from the candidate those mailers were intended to support. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Monday, Barclay told the jury the FBI’s investigation began in February 2023, following a tip from Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission that businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, a long-time ally of the Duongs, had printed campaign mailers against Thao’s opponents. Barclay relayed that Juarez made statements to the shop owner, saying he was “expecting things in return” from the candidate those mailers were intended to support. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FBI agents exit a home associated with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao during a raid in Oakland, California, on Thursday, June 20, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors say Thao agreed that, if elected, she would help extend California Waste Solutions’ recycling contract with the city of Oakland, appoint favorable city hall staffers to director-level positions and commit the city to contracting with the housing start-up, Evolutionary Homes, that Andy Duong and Juarez cofounded. In exchange, prosecutors allege, Andy and David Duong agreed to fund a negative mailer campaign against Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents and pay $300,000 to Jones for a no-show job.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Prosecutors say Thao agreed that, if elected, she would help extend California Waste Solutions’ recycling contract with the city of Oakland, appoint favorable city hall staffers to director-level positions and commit the city to contracting with the housing start-up, Evolutionary Homes, that Andy Duong and Juarez cofounded. In exchange, prosecutors allege, Andy and David Duong agreed to fund a negative mailer campaign against Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents and pay $300,000 to Jones for a no-show job.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Thursday, prosecutors showed the jury text messages that the defendants exchanged in the lead-up to the 2022 Oakland mayoral election and in the first few months of Thao’s time in office. Jurors also saw an independent contractor agreement between Evolutionary Homes and Jones, detailing advance payments.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Thursday, prosecutors showed the jury text messages that the defendants exchanged in the lead-up to the 2022 Oakland mayoral election and in the first few months of Thao’s time in office. Jurors also saw an independent contractor agreement between Evolutionary Homes and Jones, detailing advance payments.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao’s attorneys have questioned whether the negative mailers actually helped Thao’s campaign, with defense attorney Jeff Tsai asking Thao’s former campaign staffer, Noah Finneburgh, during his testimony Monday if the campaign was happy about the ads when they dropped.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Thao’s attorneys have questioned whether the negative mailers actually helped Thao’s campaign, with defense attorney Jeff Tsai asking Thao’s former campaign staffer, Noah Finneburgh, during his testimony Monday if the campaign was happy about the ads when they dropped.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tsai suggested that the ad of Thao’s opponent, Loren Taylor, which was photoshopped to darken his skin, played into racist tropes against Black men and could have alienated voters Thao would have wanted to retain. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tsai suggested that the ad of Thao’s opponent, Loren Taylor, which was photoshopped to darken his skin, played into racist tropes against Black men and could have alienated voters Thao would have wanted to retain. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The ethics commission’s tip related to those mailers, however, led the FBI to obtain a search warrant to access Juarez’s Apple iCloud, Barclay said Monday, which included a document he wrote enumerating the deal he allegedly struck with the Duongs and Thao.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The ethics commission’s tip related to those mailers, however, led the FBI to obtain a search warrant to access Juarez’s Apple iCloud, Barclay said Monday, which included a document he wrote enumerating the deal he allegedly struck with the Duongs and Thao.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Thursday, Barclay identified the defendants and Juarez in photos and videos shown to jurors. The prosecution also walked the jury through numerous WhatsApp and text messages from Andy Duong’s phone, which was confiscated from his home during the 2024 raid. The messages appear to reveal how some of the promises played out once Thao took office that prosecutors allege the co-defendants had made.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Thursday, Barclay identified the defendants and Juarez in photos and videos shown to jurors. The prosecution also walked the jury through numerous WhatsApp and text messages from Andy Duong’s phone, which was confiscated from his home during the 2024 raid. The messages appear to reveal how some of the promises played out once Thao took office that prosecutors allege the co-defendants had made.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098343\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Postal police investigate a home tied to David Duong, one of multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the citys contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland, California, on June 20, 2024.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In February 2023, a month after Thao’s inauguration, Juarez and Andy Duong set up a meeting at California Waste Solutions between David Duong and Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department at the time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In February 2023, a month after Thao’s inauguration, Juarez and Andy Duong set up a meeting at California Waste Solutions between David Duong and Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department at the time. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In one text exchange shown to the jury on Thursday, Juarez tells Andy Duong, “I wanted him because while at the City he make [sic] sure my projects got done and grants were given to me.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Juarez also texted Andy Duong about taking Gallegos out to party. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What dates are good for you to 1. Have Larry Gallegos come to have lunch at CWS with DD and Family if you wish to have him,” Juarez asked, appearing to refer to David Duong in the message. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In their opening statement, David Duong’s defense argued that the CWS owner didn’t know about the deal his son and Juarez allegedly made with Thao and Jones. Similarly, Thao’s defense has suggested that she had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments — even if it was being discussed by her co-defendants. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In their opening statement, David Duong’s defense argued that the CWS owner didn’t know about the deal his son and Juarez allegedly made with Thao and Jones. Similarly, Thao’s defense has suggested that she had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments — even if it was being discussed by her co-defendants. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Weeks later, on March 10, 2023, the city’s interim city administrator appointed Gallegos the deputy director of Oakland’s housing department, despite concerns from Thao’s former chief of staff, Leigh Hanson. Hanson testified in federal court last week that she raised her concerns with the mayor that Gallegos was not qualified and believed they were on the same page, until she heard he would be appointed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Weeks later, on March 10, 2023, the city’s interim city administrator appointed Gallegos the deputy director of Oakland’s housing department, despite concerns from Thao’s former chief of staff, Leigh Hanson. Hanson testified in federal court last week that she raised her concerns with the mayor that Gallegos was not qualified and believed they were on the same page, until she heard he would be appointed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During another exchange in late March 2023, Andy Duong and Juarez appear frustrated with Thao and Jones about going over their heads to communicate with David Duong and alter the terms of their agreement, leading Juarez to send Andy Duong a copy of the “Deal Points” note that the FBI found early in its investigation laying out the alleged quid pro quo.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>During another exchange in late March 2023, Andy Duong and Juarez appear frustrated with Thao and Jones about going over their heads to communicate with David Duong and alter the terms of their agreement, leading Juarez to send Andy Duong a copy of the “Deal Points” note that the FBI found early in its investigation laying out the alleged quid pro quo.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We invested money,” Juarez wrote to Andy Duong on March 26. “Time. Talent.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After Barclay finishes her testimony, former Assistant City Administrator LaTonda Simmons and former City Administrator Jestin Johnson are expected to take the stand. Thao appointed Johnson in May 2023, and he served throughout her mayorship. He \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091317/oakland-councilmember-proposes-a-409000-severance-for-former-city-administrator\">resigned from the role\u003c/a> in May amid an unrelated text messaging scandal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After Barclay finishes her testimony, former Assistant City Administrator LaTonda Simmons and former City Administrator Jestin Johnson are expected to take the stand. Thao appointed Johnson in May 2023, and he served throughout her mayorship. He \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091317/oakland-councilmember-proposes-a-409000-severance-for-former-city-administrator\">resigned from the role\u003c/a> in May amid an unrelated text messaging scandal.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Under Oakland’s governance structure, the administrator oversees city departments and carries out most day-to-day government functions. But they are hired and fired by the mayor, who often gives input on major decisions, including hiring department heads and agreeing to significant contracts.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In his opening statement, Fine said Johnson will testify that Thao directed him to meet with David Duong multiple times and tour Evolutionary Homes’ showroom — allegedly the only homeless housing vendor she asked him to visit.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay described evidence the agency collected in its investigation of alleged public corruption in the criminal trial of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and three others.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After testimony in the corruption trial involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104960/following-explosive-allegations-testimony-in-ex-oakland-mayors-corruption-trial-continues\">revealed the origins\u003c/a> of the FBI’s city hall probe, a federal agent returned to the witness stand Thursday and shed new light on the evidence the government has in hand. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FBI Special Agent Katherine Barclay spent roughly five hours Thursday describing to the jury the evidence her agency seized in its investigation of Thao and three others, including text messages, photos, videos, phone records, and Apple notes, among other items. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her long-time partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, are facing bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges. All four have pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, Barclay told the jury the FBI’s investigation began in February 2023, following a tip from Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission that businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, a long-time ally of the Duongs, had printed campaign mailers against Thao’s opponents. Barclay relayed that Juarez made statements to the shop owner, saying he was “expecting things in return” from the candidate those mailers were intended to support. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-04-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FBI agents exit a home associated with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao during a raid in Oakland, California, on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez has pleaded guilty to participating in the bribery scheme and is expected to serve as the government’s star witness later in the trial.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors say Thao agreed that, if elected, she would help extend California Waste Solutions’ recycling contract with the city of Oakland, appoint favorable city hall staffers to director-level positions and commit the city to contracting with the housing start-up, Evolutionary Homes, that Andy Duong and Juarez cofounded. In exchange, prosecutors allege, Andy and David Duong agreed to fund a negative mailer campaign against Thao’s 2022 mayoral opponents and pay $300,000 to Jones for a no-show job.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, prosecutors showed the jury text messages that the defendants exchanged in the lead-up to the 2022 Oakland mayoral election and in the first few months of Thao’s time in office. Jurors also saw an independent contractor agreement between Evolutionary Homes and Jones, detailing advance payments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao’s attorneys have questioned whether the negative mailers actually helped Thao’s campaign, with defense attorney Jeff Tsai asking Thao’s former campaign staffer, Noah Finneburgh, during his testimony Monday if the campaign was happy about the ads when they dropped.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finneburgh said he was unhappy with them, and that “people recognized it was an issue.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1805\" height=\"889\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103161\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022.jpg 1805w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/TaylorFraud-website-screenshot_2_accessed-via-WayBackMachine_11-07-2022-1536x757.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1805px) 100vw, 1805px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A screenshot from the website Mario Juarez allegedly created to attack Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor, accessed by the Wayback Machine on Nov. 7, 2022. (Courtesy of Wayback Machine)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tsai suggested that the ad of Thao’s opponent, Loren Taylor, which was photoshopped to darken his skin, played into racist tropes against Black men and could have alienated voters Thao would have wanted to retain. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ethics commission’s tip related to those mailers, however, led the FBI to obtain a search warrant to access Juarez’s Apple iCloud, Barclay said Monday, which included a document he wrote enumerating the deal he allegedly struck with the Duongs and Thao.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, Barclay identified the defendants and Juarez in photos and videos shown to jurors. The prosecution also walked the jury through numerous WhatsApp and text messages from Andy Duong’s phone, which was confiscated from his home during the 2024 raid. The messages appear to reveal how some of the promises played out once Thao took office that prosecutors allege the co-defendants had made.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098343\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-05-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Postal police investigate a home tied to David Duong, one of multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the citys contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland, California, on June 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one photo, from December 2022, jurors on Thursday saw photos illustrating what appeared to be a whiteboard at California Waste Solutions with words that included, “Oak 300 units” and “Mayor” along with different monetary amounts and arrows pointing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In February 2023, a month after Thao’s inauguration, Juarez and Andy Duong set up a meeting at California Waste Solutions between David Duong and Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department at the time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors allege that Gallegos was one of the candidates who Thao agreed to elevate to a leadership position in Oakland City Hall at Andy Duong’s and Juarez’s request. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one text exchange shown to the jury on Thursday, Juarez tells Andy Duong, “I wanted him because while at the City he make [sic] sure my projects got done and grants were given to me.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez also texted Andy Duong about taking Gallegos out to party. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What dates are good for you to 1. Have Larry Gallegos come to have lunch at CWS with DD and Family if you wish to have him,” Juarez asked, appearing to refer to David Duong in the message. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In their opening statement, David Duong’s defense argued that the CWS owner didn’t know about the deal his son and Juarez allegedly made with Thao and Jones. Similarly, Thao’s defense has suggested that she had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments — even if it was being discussed by her co-defendants. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Weeks later, on March 10, 2023, the city’s interim city administrator appointed Gallegos the deputy director of Oakland’s housing department, despite concerns from Thao’s former chief of staff, Leigh Hanson. Hanson testified in federal court last week that she raised her concerns with the mayor that Gallegos was not qualified and believed they were on the same page, until she heard he would be appointed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During another exchange in late March 2023, Andy Duong and Juarez appear frustrated with Thao and Jones about going over their heads to communicate with David Duong and alter the terms of their agreement, leading Juarez to send Andy Duong a copy of the “Deal Points” note that the FBI found early in its investigation laying out the alleged quid pro quo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-25-BL-KQED-6aac0858-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We invested money,” Juarez wrote to Andy Duong on March 26. “Time. Talent.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later that day, Andy Duong replied to Juarez: “Aint nothing free or [sic] front cuz we did all that to help her ass win.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Barclay finishes her testimony, former Assistant City Administrator LaTonda Simmons and former City Administrator Jestin Johnson are expected to take the stand. Thao appointed Johnson in May 2023, and he served throughout her mayorship. He \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091317/oakland-councilmember-proposes-a-409000-severance-for-former-city-administrator\">resigned from the role\u003c/a> in May amid an unrelated text messaging scandal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under Oakland’s governance structure, the administrator oversees city departments and carries out most day-to-day government functions. But they are hired and fired by the mayor, who often gives input on major decisions, including hiring department heads and agreeing to significant contracts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his opening statement, Fine said Johnson will testify that Thao directed him to meet with David Duong multiple times and tour Evolutionary Homes’ showroom — allegedly the only homeless housing vendor she asked him to visit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> City Council on Tuesday rejected two nominees to the city’s Police Commission, one of the strongest law enforcement watchdog groups, over conflict of interest concerns. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks to an obscure line of code in the city charter, the candidates — former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and former Deputy Public Defender Nicholas O’Brien-Kovari — are required to be forwarded by a selection panel, an independent body, to the Council together as a batch. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The slate ran aground when O’Brien-Kovari, who currently works for a private law firm and is involved in active litigation against the city, asked the city attorney’s office on Monday for clarification on whether that might make him \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/boards-amp-commissions/documents/opc/police-commission-code-of-conduct.pdf\">ineligible\u003c/a> for the commission, according to a letter reviewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084253\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Oakland Police vehicle in Oakland, California, on Nov. 5, 2025. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday morning, O’Brien-Kovari said he was offered the opportunity to move forward, with staff confirming the City Attorney had not yet taken a position on any potential conflict without a thorough analysis. But at the City Council hearing on Tuesday afternoon, City Attorney Ryan Richardson told council members he had not had time to determine whether O’Brien-Kovari’s job posed a problem, nor to confirm whether it would be possible to rescind his withdrawal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Council members ultimately voted to reject the candidates. The Police Commission Selection Panel, whose nine members are appointed by each City Council member and the mayor, will now determine whether O’Brien-Kovari can serve, and designate a replacement nominee from its pool of candidates, if necessary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Our advice to reject the slate is to simply reset the clock, reset the board,” Richardson said at the meeting. “If both candidates are qualified, the selection panel can send them both back, and the council can vote them up or down.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=16054625&GUID=1998BD0F-D888-4935-AF2E-CAC74DE06EE9\">vote\u003c/a> comes after a season of friction between city leaders and the voter-mandated civilian oversight body, which holds the power to fire and help hire a police chief, shape use of force policy and investigate police misconduct. The Oakland City Council previously rejected two of the police commission’s slates over what some considered its feeble recruitment efforts, prompting a revamping of the selection process aimed at expanding and diversifying the candidate pool.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O’Brien-Kovari told KQED he is “passionate about police reform” and will keep his name in the hat, but will not serve unless the city can confirm whether his work as an attorney could pose any conflict. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I really did want to serve,” O’Brien-Kovari said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Quan said she volunteered to join the commission after her successor, current Mayor Barbara Lee, asked her to do so. She dismissed opposition to her appointment from Councilmember Ken Houston, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/24/oakland-police-commission-independence/\">reportedly\u003c/a> unsatisfied with her response to the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, despite the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/occupy-oakland-jean-quan-i-don-t-know-2325178.php\">fact\u003c/a> that she was in Washington, D.C., “lobbying for more money for police” at the time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“[Being police commissioner] is a very serious position,” Quan told the council on Tuesday. “This is a commission that takes more time than most commissions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’ve invested a lot of my life in politics and police reform in Oakland, and I’d be honored to be able to stabilize our constitutional policing here in the city the first year out of negotiated settlement,” Quan said, referring to the recent end of two decades of federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101833/a-new-beginning-oakland-police-to-exit-federal-oversight-after-23-years\">oversight\u003c/a> of Oakland’s police department.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With an independent police force, the commission would be expected to fully take the reins of holding OPD accountable, raising the stakes of the appointments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city attorney’s office declined to comment. Neither the city nor the police commission immediately responded to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the Police Commission submitted the candidate slate to the City Council. A separate independent entity, called the Police Commission Selection Panel, handles this process, vetting applications and interviewing applicants. We regret the error. \u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> City Council on Tuesday rejected two nominees to the city’s Police Commission, one of the strongest law enforcement watchdog groups, over conflict of interest concerns. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thanks to an obscure line of code in the city charter, the candidates — former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and former Deputy Public Defender Nicholas O’Brien-Kovari — are required to be forwarded by a selection panel, an independent body, to the Council together as a batch. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The slate ran aground when O’Brien-Kovari, who currently works for a private law firm and is involved in active litigation against the city, asked the city attorney’s office on Monday for clarification on whether that might make him \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/boards-amp-commissions/documents/opc/police-commission-code-of-conduct.pdf\">ineligible\u003c/a> for the commission, according to a letter reviewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The slate ran aground when O’Brien-Kovari, who currently works for a private law firm and is involved in active litigation against the city, asked the city attorney’s office on Monday for clarification on whether that might make him \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/boards-amp-commissions/documents/opc/police-commission-code-of-conduct.pdf\">ineligible\u003c/a> for the commission, according to a letter reviewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Tuesday morning, O’Brien-Kovari said he was offered the opportunity to move forward, with staff confirming the City Attorney had not yet taken a position on any potential conflict without a thorough analysis. But at the City Council hearing on Tuesday afternoon, City Attorney Ryan Richardson told council members he had not had time to determine whether O’Brien-Kovari’s job posed a problem, nor to confirm whether it would be possible to rescind his withdrawal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Tuesday morning, O’Brien-Kovari said he was offered the opportunity to move forward, with staff confirming the City Attorney had not yet taken a position on any potential conflict without a thorough analysis. But at the City Council hearing on Tuesday afternoon, City Attorney Ryan Richardson told council members he had not had time to determine whether O’Brien-Kovari’s job posed a problem, nor to confirm whether it would be possible to rescind his withdrawal.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Council members ultimately voted to reject the candidates. The Police Commission Selection Panel, whose nine members are appointed by each City Council member and the mayor, will now determine whether O’Brien-Kovari can serve, and designate a replacement nominee from its pool of candidates, if necessary.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Council members ultimately voted to reject the candidates. The Police Commission Selection Panel, whose nine members are appointed by each City Council member and the mayor, will now determine whether O’Brien-Kovari can serve, and designate a replacement nominee from its pool of candidates, if necessary.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our advice to reject the slate is to simply reset the clock, reset the board,” Richardson said at the meeting. “If both candidates are qualified, the selection panel can send them both back, and the council can vote them up or down.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=16054625&GUID=1998BD0F-D888-4935-AF2E-CAC74DE06EE9\">vote\u003c/a> comes after a season of friction between city leaders and the voter-mandated civilian oversight body, which holds the power to fire and help hire a police chief, shape use of force policy and investigate police misconduct. The Oakland City Council previously rejected two of the police commission’s slates over what some considered its feeble recruitment efforts, prompting a revamping of the selection process aimed at expanding and diversifying the candidate pool.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=16054625&GUID=1998BD0F-D888-4935-AF2E-CAC74DE06EE9\">vote\u003c/a> comes after a season of friction between city leaders and the voter-mandated civilian oversight body, which holds the power to fire and help hire a police chief, shape use of force policy and investigate police misconduct. The Oakland City Council previously rejected two of the police commission’s slates over what some considered its feeble recruitment efforts, prompting a revamping of the selection process aimed at expanding and diversifying the candidate pool.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>O’Brien-Kovari told KQED he is “passionate about police reform” and will keep his name in the hat, but will not serve unless the city can confirm whether his work as an attorney could pose any conflict. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>O’Brien-Kovari told KQED he is “passionate about police reform” and will keep his name in the hat, but will not serve unless the city can confirm whether his work as an attorney could pose any conflict. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I really did want to serve,” O’Brien-Kovari said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I really did want to serve,” O’Brien-Kovari said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Quan said she volunteered to join the commission after her successor, current Mayor Barbara Lee, asked her to do so. She dismissed opposition to her appointment from Councilmember Ken Houston, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/24/oakland-police-commission-independence/\">reportedly\u003c/a> unsatisfied with her response to the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, despite the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/occupy-oakland-jean-quan-i-don-t-know-2325178.php\">fact\u003c/a> that she was in Washington, D.C., “lobbying for more money for police” at the time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Quan said she volunteered to join the commission after her successor, current Mayor Barbara Lee, asked her to do so. She dismissed opposition to her appointment from Councilmember Ken Houston, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/24/oakland-police-commission-independence/\">reportedly\u003c/a> unsatisfied with her response to the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, despite the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/occupy-oakland-jean-quan-i-don-t-know-2325178.php\">fact\u003c/a> that she was in Washington, D.C., “lobbying for more money for police” at the time.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“[Being police commissioner] is a very serious position,” Quan told the council on Tuesday. “This is a commission that takes more time than most commissions. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“[Being police commissioner] is a very serious position,” Quan told the council on Tuesday. “This is a commission that takes more time than most commissions. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’ve invested a lot of my life in politics and police reform in Oakland, and I’d be honored to be able to stabilize our constitutional policing here in the city the first year out of negotiated settlement,” Quan said, referring to the recent end of two decades of federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101833/a-new-beginning-oakland-police-to-exit-federal-oversight-after-23-years\">oversight\u003c/a> of Oakland’s police department.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I’ve invested a lot of my life in politics and police reform in Oakland, and I’d be honored to be able to stabilize our constitutional policing here in the city the first year out of negotiated settlement,” Quan said, referring to the recent end of two decades of federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101833/a-new-beginning-oakland-police-to-exit-federal-oversight-after-23-years\">oversight\u003c/a> of Oakland’s police department.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With an independent police force, the commission would be expected to fully take the reins of holding OPD accountable, raising the stakes of the appointments.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>With an independent police force, the commission would be expected to fully take the reins of holding OPD accountable, raising the stakes of the appointments.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The city attorney’s office declined to comment. Neither the city nor the police commission immediately responded to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the Police Commission submitted the candidate slate to the City Council. A separate independent entity, called the Police Commission Selection Panel, handles this process, vetting applications and interviewing applicants. We regret the error. \u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the Police Commission submitted the candidate slate to the City Council. A separate independent entity, called the Police Commission Selection Panel, handles this process, vetting applications and interviewing applicants. We regret the error. \u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> City Council on Tuesday rejected two nominees to the city’s Police Commission, one of the strongest law enforcement watchdog groups, over conflict of interest concerns. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks to an obscure line of code in the city charter, the candidates — former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and former Deputy Public Defender Nicholas O’Brien-Kovari — are required to be forwarded by a selection panel, an independent body, to the Council together as a batch. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The slate ran aground when O’Brien-Kovari, who currently works for a private law firm and is involved in active litigation against the city, asked the city attorney’s office on Monday for clarification on whether that might make him \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/boards-amp-commissions/documents/opc/police-commission-code-of-conduct.pdf\">ineligible\u003c/a> for the commission, according to a letter reviewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084253\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/OaklandPoliceCarKQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Oakland Police vehicle in Oakland, California, on Nov. 5, 2025. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday morning, O’Brien-Kovari said he was offered the opportunity to move forward, with staff confirming the City Attorney had not yet taken a position on any potential conflict without a thorough analysis. But at the City Council hearing on Tuesday afternoon, City Attorney Ryan Richardson told council members he had not had time to determine whether O’Brien-Kovari’s job posed a problem, nor to confirm whether it would be possible to rescind his withdrawal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Council members ultimately voted to reject the candidates. The Police Commission Selection Panel, whose nine members are appointed by each City Council member and the mayor, will now determine whether O’Brien-Kovari can serve, and designate a replacement nominee from its pool of candidates, if necessary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Our advice to reject the slate is to simply reset the clock, reset the board,” Richardson said at the meeting. “If both candidates are qualified, the selection panel can send them both back, and the council can vote them up or down.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=16054625&GUID=1998BD0F-D888-4935-AF2E-CAC74DE06EE9\">vote\u003c/a> comes after a season of friction between city leaders and the voter-mandated civilian oversight body, which holds the power to fire and help hire a police chief, shape use of force policy and investigate police misconduct. The Oakland City Council previously rejected two of the police commission’s slates over what some considered its feeble recruitment efforts, prompting a revamping of the selection process aimed at expanding and diversifying the candidate pool.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O’Brien-Kovari told KQED he is “passionate about police reform” and will keep his name in the hat, but will not serve unless the city can confirm whether his work as an attorney could pose any conflict. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I really did want to serve,” O’Brien-Kovari said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Quan said she volunteered to join the commission after her successor, current Mayor Barbara Lee, asked her to do so. She dismissed opposition to her appointment from Councilmember Ken Houston, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/24/oakland-police-commission-independence/\">reportedly\u003c/a> unsatisfied with her response to the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, despite the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/occupy-oakland-jean-quan-i-don-t-know-2325178.php\">fact\u003c/a> that she was in Washington, D.C., “lobbying for more money for police” at the time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“[Being police commissioner] is a very serious position,” Quan told the council on Tuesday. “This is a commission that takes more time than most commissions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’ve invested a lot of my life in politics and police reform in Oakland, and I’d be honored to be able to stabilize our constitutional policing here in the city the first year out of negotiated settlement,” Quan said, referring to the recent end of two decades of federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101833/a-new-beginning-oakland-police-to-exit-federal-oversight-after-23-years\">oversight\u003c/a> of Oakland’s police department.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With an independent police force, the commission would be expected to fully take the reins of holding OPD accountable, raising the stakes of the appointments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city attorney’s office declined to comment. Neither the city nor the police commission immediately responded to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the Police Commission submitted the candidate slate to the City Council. A separate independent entity, called the Police Commission Selection Panel, handles this process, vetting applications and interviewing applicants. We regret the error. \u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "following-explosive-allegations-testimony-in-ex-oakland-mayors-corruption-trial-continues",
"title": "Oakland Corruption Trial: FBI Agent Shares Misstep That Tipped Off Investigators",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Corruption Trial: FBI Agent Shares Misstep That Tipped Off Investigators | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A tip from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> Public Ethics Commission launched the federal investigation into the alleged pay-to-play corruption scheme at the center of former Mayor Sheng Thao’s criminal trial, an FBI agent told the jury in federal court on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The testimony came amid protests outside the courthouse from anti-public corruption activists and after a former Thao staffer shed light on efforts her staff made in the lead-up to the 2022 mayoral election to distance themselves from negative campaign mailers depicting her opponents. Thao’s former chief of staff Leigh Hanson also doubled down on her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104531/former-thao-staffer-says-office-was-asked-about-alleged-child-sex-trafficking-on-vietnam-trip\">testimony last week\u003c/a> that Thao called Andy Duong a “playboy” who was going to “ruin her career” as the second week of the trial got underway. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, are facing conspiracy and bribery charges for their alleged involvement in a quid pro quo to elevate the Duongs’ companies in exchange for $300,000 paid to Jones and support for Thao’s 2022 mayoral bid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Katherine Barclay testified Monday that the citizen commission that monitors Oakland city government approached the FBI in February 2023 with a report of possible political corruption from the person hired to print mailers targeting Thao’s mayoral opponents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Scott Means, former Director of Oakland’s Health and Human Services Department, speaks at a rally outside of the federal courthouse in Oakland where former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and others are on trial on Oct. 19, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay alleged that the FBI’s investigation began in connection with a separate check fraud case by Alameda County District Attorney’s Office against Oakland businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, who was accused of commissioning the mailers but failing to pay for them. The District Attorney’s Office later dropped the case. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez has pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged bribery scheme involving Thao and is expected to serve as a key cooperating witness for the government later in the trial. Each of the defendants has pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Barclay, Juarez had hired Samari Johnson’s company to print a number of campaign mailers attacking Thao’s opponents just before Election Day but had paid more than $50,000 for the mailers with invalid checks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Johnson later filed a police report against Juarez, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office opened a criminal case against him in January 2024, but dropped the charges after Juarez alleged that then-District Attorney Pamela Price was retaliating against him for refusing to donate to her own campaign. Price was recalled alongside Thao in November 2024.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay testified that Johnson said Juarez made statements to him “about expecting things in return for the mailers from the candidate he was supporting.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That information led the FBI to obtain a search warrant for Juarez’s Apple iCloud account, where they found a document on the Notes application called “Sheng Thao Deal Points.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The note, which Juarez later sent to Andy Duong in a WhatsApp message, lays out much of the alleged scheme, including the Duongs’ and Juarez’s promise of the negative mailer campaign and $300,000 in exchange for purchasing housing units from Evolutionary Homes, appointing certain individuals to city administration positions and extending California Waste Solutions’ contract with the city. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay also said that after an altercation between Juarez and the Duongs at California Waste Solutions’ headquarters in May 2024, the Oakland Police Department brought allegations that Juarez made “against” the Duongs and the police department to the FBI. An attorney representing Juarez at the time told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-fbi-mario-juarez-19545382.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that he was “severely beaten” in the incident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay said the FBI first approached Juarez for an interview after that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Former Thao chief concludes testimony\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before Barclay took the stand late into the day on Monday, Andy Duong’s attorney, Winston Chan, questioned Hanson about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104531/former-thao-staffer-says-office-was-asked-about-alleged-child-sex-trafficking-on-vietnam-trip\">statements she made last week\u003c/a> regarding his client’s conduct on a trade delegation to Vietnam in the summer of 2023 that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69557393/235/united-states-v-thao/\">allegations surfaced in July\u003c/a> that another elected official on the trip engaged in “suspected drug use and activity involving prostitutes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, Hanson said that 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.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Winston Chan (left), attorney for Andy Duong, gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Duong and co-defendants former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Andre Jones and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, Chan asked Hanson if she was sure her comments weren’t in reference to David Duong. He pointed to a transcript of an interview Hanson gave to the FBI in 2024, in which Hanson reportedly told investigators Thao was in fact angry with David. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hanson did not back down when Chan pressed her: “She did not mention David Duong, she mentioned Andy,” Hanson told the court. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hanson did acknowledge that the reporter did not accuse Andy Duong by name. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Hanson’s testimony, leaders of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013194/recalls-oakland-mayor-alameda-county-da-take-commanding-leads\">2024 campaigns to recall\u003c/a> Thao and Price held a press conference outside the courthouse, demanding an “end to City Hall corruption” in Oakland. Both elected leaders were recalled with \u003ca href=\"https://alamedacountyca.gov/rovresults/252/\">more than 60% of voters\u003c/a> supporting their removal from office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The same political infrastructure that installed and protected Thao continues to control Oakland City Hall,” the recall leaders wrote in a press release. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Taylor mailers hurt or help?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Noah Finneburgh, a former member of Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign team, also testified Monday, shedding light on the campaign’s response to the controversial mailer campaign Juarez orchestrated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mailer includes an altered photo of Thao’s top competitor, Loren Taylor. The image of Taylor, who is Black, appears to have been photoshopped so his mouth tilts down into a frown, the arch of his eyebrows is accentuated, his skin is darker, and there is a red hue cast over the image that makes his pupils appear to have red sparks in them. Taylor has alleged the ad intended to make him look angry, following a racist stereotype against Black men.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12034443\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Mayoral Candidate Loren Taylor at KQED headquarters in San Francisco on April 3, 2025. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finneburgh said Thao’s staff wanted to minimize the ads, not draw attention to them, since they believed they would hurt the campaign by alienating voters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They just didn’t seem credible to me. They seemed like something someone would see and think, ‘just another attack ad,’” Finneburgh said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao’s top campaign staff went back and forth about how to respond and ultimately posted on Twitter denouncing the ads as “incredibly offensive,” saying her campaign “did not and would never send something like this out.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay will continue to testify Thursday. She’s expected to speak about a number of documents the FBI obtained from various cell phones, tablets and computers that were collected in the raids at the California Waste Solutions office and inside the homes of Thao and Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong in June 2024.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove a description of signs protestors carried depicting a current councilmember who has not been named in connection to the trial.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Scott Means, former Director of Oakland’s Health and Human Services Department, speaks at a rally outside of the federal courthouse in Oakland where former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and others are on trial on Oct. 19, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay alleged that the FBI’s investigation began in connection with a separate check fraud case by Alameda County District Attorney’s Office against Oakland businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, who was accused of commissioning the mailers but failing to pay for them. The District Attorney’s Office later dropped the case. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Juarez has pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged bribery scheme involving Thao and is expected to serve as a key cooperating witness for the government later in the trial. Each of the defendants has pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to Barclay, Juarez had hired Samari Johnson’s company to print a number of campaign mailers attacking Thao’s opponents just before Election Day but had paid more than $50,000 for the mailers with invalid checks. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Johnson later filed a police report against Juarez, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office opened a criminal case against him in January 2024, but dropped the charges after Juarez alleged that then-District Attorney Pamela Price was retaliating against him for refusing to donate to her own campaign. Price was recalled alongside Thao in November 2024.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Johnson later filed a police report against Juarez, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office opened a criminal case against him in January 2024, but dropped the charges after Juarez alleged that then-District Attorney Pamela Price was retaliating against him for refusing to donate to her own campaign. Price was recalled alongside Thao in November 2024.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay testified that Johnson said Juarez made statements to him “about expecting things in return for the mailers from the candidate he was supporting.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That information led the FBI to obtain a search warrant for Juarez’s Apple iCloud account, where they found a document on the Notes application called “Sheng Thao Deal Points.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The note, which Juarez later sent to Andy Duong in a WhatsApp message, lays out much of the alleged scheme, including the Duongs’ and Juarez’s promise of the negative mailer campaign and $300,000 in exchange for purchasing housing units from Evolutionary Homes, appointing certain individuals to city administration positions and extending California Waste Solutions’ contract with the city. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The note, which Juarez later sent to Andy Duong in a WhatsApp message, lays out much of the alleged scheme, including the Duongs’ and Juarez’s promise of the negative mailer campaign and $300,000 in exchange for purchasing housing units from Evolutionary Homes, appointing certain individuals to city administration positions and extending California Waste Solutions’ contract with the city. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay also said that after an altercation between Juarez and the Duongs at California Waste Solutions’ headquarters in May 2024, the Oakland Police Department brought allegations that Juarez made “against” the Duongs and the police department to the FBI. An attorney representing Juarez at the time told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-fbi-mario-juarez-19545382.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that he was “severely beaten” in the incident.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Before Barclay took the stand late into the day on Monday, Andy Duong’s attorney, Winston Chan, questioned Hanson about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104531/former-thao-staffer-says-office-was-asked-about-alleged-child-sex-trafficking-on-vietnam-trip\">statements she made last week\u003c/a> regarding his client’s conduct on a trade delegation to Vietnam in the summer of 2023 that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Before Barclay took the stand late into the day on Monday, Andy Duong’s attorney, Winston Chan, questioned Hanson about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104531/former-thao-staffer-says-office-was-asked-about-alleged-child-sex-trafficking-on-vietnam-trip\">statements she made last week\u003c/a> regarding his client’s conduct on a trade delegation to Vietnam in the summer of 2023 that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>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 \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69557393/235/united-states-v-thao/\">allegations surfaced in July\u003c/a> that another elected official on the trip engaged in “suspected drug use and activity involving prostitutes.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>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 \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69557393/235/united-states-v-thao/\">allegations surfaced in July\u003c/a> that another elected official on the trip engaged in “suspected drug use and activity involving prostitutes.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Thursday, Hanson said that 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.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Thursday, Hanson said that 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.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Winston Chan (left), attorney for Andy Duong, gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Duong and co-defendants former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Andre Jones and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Monday, Chan asked Hanson if she was sure her comments weren’t in reference to David Duong. He pointed to a transcript of an interview Hanson gave to the FBI in 2024, in which Hanson reportedly told investigators Thao was in fact angry with David. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Monday, Chan asked Hanson if she was sure her comments weren’t in reference to David Duong. He pointed to a transcript of an interview Hanson gave to the FBI in 2024, in which Hanson reportedly told investigators Thao was in fact angry with David. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hanson did not back down when Chan pressed her: “She did not mention David Duong, she mentioned Andy,” Hanson told the court. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After Hanson’s testimony, leaders of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013194/recalls-oakland-mayor-alameda-county-da-take-commanding-leads\">2024 campaigns to recall\u003c/a> Thao and Price held a press conference outside the courthouse, demanding an “end to City Hall corruption” in Oakland. Both elected leaders were recalled with \u003ca href=\"https://alamedacountyca.gov/rovresults/252/\">more than 60% of voters\u003c/a> supporting their removal from office. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The same political infrastructure that installed and protected Thao continues to control Oakland City Hall,” the recall leaders wrote in a press release. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Noah Finneburgh, a former member of Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign team, also testified Monday, shedding light on the campaign’s response to the controversial mailer campaign Juarez orchestrated. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Noah Finneburgh, a former member of Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign team, also testified Monday, shedding light on the campaign’s response to the controversial mailer campaign Juarez orchestrated. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The mailer includes an altered photo of Thao’s top competitor, Loren Taylor. The image of Taylor, who is Black, appears to have been photoshopped so his mouth tilts down into a frown, the arch of his eyebrows is accentuated, his skin is darker, and there is a red hue cast over the image that makes his pupils appear to have red sparks in them. Taylor has alleged the ad intended to make him look angry, following a racist stereotype against Black men.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The mailer includes an altered photo of Thao’s top competitor, Loren Taylor. The image of Taylor, who is Black, appears to have been photoshopped so his mouth tilts down into a frown, the arch of his eyebrows is accentuated, his skin is darker, and there is a red hue cast over the image that makes his pupils appear to have red sparks in them. Taylor has alleged the ad intended to make him look angry, following a racist stereotype against Black men.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Finneburgh said Thao’s staff wanted to minimize the ads, not draw attention to them, since they believed they would hurt the campaign by alienating voters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They just didn’t seem credible to me. They seemed like something someone would see and think, ‘just another attack ad,’” Finneburgh said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao’s top campaign staff went back and forth about how to respond and ultimately posted on Twitter denouncing the ads as “incredibly offensive,” saying her campaign “did not and would never send something like this out.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Thao’s top campaign staff went back and forth about how to respond and ultimately posted on Twitter denouncing the ads as “incredibly offensive,” saying her campaign “did not and would never send something like this out.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay will continue to testify Thursday. She’s expected to speak about a number of documents the FBI obtained from various cell phones, tablets and computers that were collected in the raids at the California Waste Solutions office and inside the homes of Thao and Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong in June 2024.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Barclay will continue to testify Thursday. She’s expected to speak about a number of documents the FBI obtained from various cell phones, tablets and computers that were collected in the raids at the California Waste Solutions office and inside the homes of Thao and Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong in June 2024.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove a description of signs protestors carried depicting a current councilmember who has not been named in connection to the trial.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove a description of signs protestors carried depicting a current councilmember who has not been named in connection to the trial.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "According to an FBI investigator, an unpaid bill for negative campaign mailers and a tip from a citizen commission helped launch the federal investigation into former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and her three codefendants over allegations of bribery, corruption and fraud. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A tip from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> Public Ethics Commission launched the federal investigation into the alleged pay-to-play corruption scheme at the center of former Mayor Sheng Thao’s criminal trial, an FBI agent told the jury in federal court on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The testimony came amid protests outside the courthouse from anti-public corruption activists and after a former Thao staffer shed light on efforts her staff made in the lead-up to the 2022 mayoral election to distance themselves from negative campaign mailers depicting her opponents. Thao’s former chief of staff Leigh Hanson also doubled down on her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104531/former-thao-staffer-says-office-was-asked-about-alleged-child-sex-trafficking-on-vietnam-trip\">testimony last week\u003c/a> that Thao called Andy Duong a “playboy” who was going to “ruin her career” as the second week of the trial got underway. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, are facing conspiracy and bribery charges for their alleged involvement in a quid pro quo to elevate the Duongs’ companies in exchange for $300,000 paid to Jones and support for Thao’s 2022 mayoral bid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Katherine Barclay testified Monday that the citizen commission that monitors Oakland city government approached the FBI in February 2023 with a report of possible political corruption from the person hired to print mailers targeting Thao’s mayoral opponents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261019-THAO-TRIAL-PROTEST-MD-06-KQED-8a62a24d-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Scott Means, former Director of Oakland’s Health and Human Services Department, speaks at a rally outside of the federal courthouse in Oakland where former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and others are on trial on Oct. 19, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay alleged that the FBI’s investigation began in connection with a separate check fraud case by Alameda County District Attorney’s Office against Oakland businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, who was accused of commissioning the mailers but failing to pay for them. The District Attorney’s Office later dropped the case. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juarez has pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged bribery scheme involving Thao and is expected to serve as a key cooperating witness for the government later in the trial. Each of the defendants has pleaded not guilty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Barclay, Juarez had hired Samari Johnson’s company to print a number of campaign mailers attacking Thao’s opponents just before Election Day but had paid more than $50,000 for the mailers with invalid checks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Johnson later filed a police report against Juarez, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office opened a criminal case against him in January 2024, but dropped the charges after Juarez alleged that then-District Attorney Pamela Price was retaliating against him for refusing to donate to her own campaign. Price was recalled alongside Thao in November 2024.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay testified that Johnson said Juarez made statements to him “about expecting things in return for the mailers from the candidate he was supporting.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That information led the FBI to obtain a search warrant for Juarez’s Apple iCloud account, where they found a document on the Notes application called “Sheng Thao Deal Points.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The note, which Juarez later sent to Andy Duong in a WhatsApp message, lays out much of the alleged scheme, including the Duongs’ and Juarez’s promise of the negative mailer campaign and $300,000 in exchange for purchasing housing units from Evolutionary Homes, appointing certain individuals to city administration positions and extending California Waste Solutions’ contract with the city. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay also said that after an altercation between Juarez and the Duongs at California Waste Solutions’ headquarters in May 2024, the Oakland Police Department brought allegations that Juarez made “against” the Duongs and the police department to the FBI. An attorney representing Juarez at the time told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-fbi-mario-juarez-19545382.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that he was “severely beaten” in the incident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay said the FBI first approached Juarez for an interview after that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Former Thao chief concludes testimony\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before Barclay took the stand late into the day on Monday, Andy Duong’s attorney, Winston Chan, questioned Hanson about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104531/former-thao-staffer-says-office-was-asked-about-alleged-child-sex-trafficking-on-vietnam-trip\">statements she made last week\u003c/a> regarding his client’s conduct on a trade delegation to Vietnam in the summer of 2023 that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69557393/235/united-states-v-thao/\">allegations surfaced in July\u003c/a> that another elected official on the trip engaged in “suspected drug use and activity involving prostitutes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, Hanson said that 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.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch4_VB-KQED-e58e7c6d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Winston Chan (left), attorney for Andy Duong, gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Duong and co-defendants former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Andre Jones and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, Chan asked Hanson if she was sure her comments weren’t in reference to David Duong. He pointed to a transcript of an interview Hanson gave to the FBI in 2024, in which Hanson reportedly told investigators Thao was in fact angry with David. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hanson did not back down when Chan pressed her: “She did not mention David Duong, she mentioned Andy,” Hanson told the court. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hanson did acknowledge that the reporter did not accuse Andy Duong by name. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Hanson’s testimony, leaders of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013194/recalls-oakland-mayor-alameda-county-da-take-commanding-leads\">2024 campaigns to recall\u003c/a> Thao and Price held a press conference outside the courthouse, demanding an “end to City Hall corruption” in Oakland. Both elected leaders were recalled with \u003ca href=\"https://alamedacountyca.gov/rovresults/252/\">more than 60% of voters\u003c/a> supporting their removal from office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The same political infrastructure that installed and protected Thao continues to control Oakland City Hall,” the recall leaders wrote in a press release. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Taylor mailers hurt or help?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Noah Finneburgh, a former member of Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign team, also testified Monday, shedding light on the campaign’s response to the controversial mailer campaign Juarez orchestrated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mailer includes an altered photo of Thao’s top competitor, Loren Taylor. The image of Taylor, who is Black, appears to have been photoshopped so his mouth tilts down into a frown, the arch of his eyebrows is accentuated, his skin is darker, and there is a red hue cast over the image that makes his pupils appear to have red sparks in them. Taylor has alleged the ad intended to make him look angry, following a racist stereotype against Black men.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12034443\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250403-LOREN-TAYLOR-ON-PB-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Mayoral Candidate Loren Taylor at KQED headquarters in San Francisco on April 3, 2025. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finneburgh said Thao’s staff wanted to minimize the ads, not draw attention to them, since they believed they would hurt the campaign by alienating voters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They just didn’t seem credible to me. They seemed like something someone would see and think, ‘just another attack ad,’” Finneburgh said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thao’s top campaign staff went back and forth about how to respond and ultimately posted on Twitter denouncing the ads as “incredibly offensive,” saying her campaign “did not and would never send something like this out.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barclay will continue to testify Thursday. She’s expected to speak about a number of documents the FBI obtained from various cell phones, tablets and computers that were collected in the raids at the California Waste Solutions office and inside the homes of Thao and Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong in June 2024.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove a description of signs protestors carried depicting a current councilmember who has not been named in connection to the trial.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "former-thao-staffer-says-office-was-asked-about-alleged-child-sex-trafficking-on-vietnam-trip",
"title": "Former Thao Staffer Says Office Was Asked About Alleged Child Sex Trafficking on Vietnam Trip",
"publishDate": 1792106124,
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"headTitle": "Former Thao Staffer Says Office Was Asked About Alleged Child Sex Trafficking on Vietnam Trip | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>During the first day of testimony on Thursday in the federal corruption \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao-trial\">trial of Sheng Thao\u003c/a>, the ex-mayor’s chief of staff told the court a journalist reached out to her office to ask about potential sex trafficking of minors during a 2023 trade trip to Vietnam. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The explosive allegations come as Thao faces bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges alongside her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong, and his son, Andy Duong. All attended the trip, which was spearheaded by the Vietnamese American Business Association, a group Duong chaired. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During the roughly five hours of testimony, Leigh Hanson, Thao’s friend and former chief of staff, also disclosed concerns she had aired regarding Jones’ unofficial and at times inappropriate role in the mayor’s office, as well as criticisms she voiced about Thao’s staffing picks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said that after Thao returned from Vietnam, a journalist reached out to the mayor’s office regarding some of the people on the trip who were stopped by customs in relation to “concern that there was drug paraphernalia” and “potentially involvement with young women.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1372\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-10-scaled-e1792105909155.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098348\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins and former Mayor Sheng Thao’s Chief of Staff Leigh Hanson wait while former Rep. Barbara Lee files paperwork to run for mayor at City Hall in Oakland, California, on Jan. 8, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said the journalist told Francis Zamora, Thao’s former communications director, that “there was potential a story would be written about that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said when she and Zamora relayed the message to Thao, the former mayor became “very upset at Andy Duong,” saying of him, “I hate that fucking playboy, he’s always been trouble, he’s going to ruin my career.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Andy Duong did not respond to a request for comment as he left the courthouse. His attorneys said any response would come “only in court.” They have not cross-examined Hanson yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thao was vocal in her platform about sexual mistreatment of women, Hanson said, adding she was “incredibly upset that potentially some members of the delegation potentially participated.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a co-defendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson also testified she had concerns about Jones’ role in the mayor’s office. He was not a city employee or formal member of Thao’s team, but Hanson said he attended multiple meetings unannounced.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In January 2023, Hanson said Jones attended a meeting between city staffers and the city attorney about the decision to remove Oakland’s police chief at the time, Leonne Armstrong, and place him \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974985/former-oakland-police-chief-leronne-armstrong-sues-city-for-wrongful-termination\">on leave\u003c/a> after reports that the department improperly investigated misconduct charges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said that the meeting ultimately didn’t occur. She walked out of the room over concerns that having Jones present would jeopardize the confidentiality afforded to city employees meeting about privileged information, she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson alleged that in response to her concerns, Jones appeared to threaten her job, saying: “We’ll see which one of us is left at the end of the day.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That same month, Hanson said Jones also joined a virtual interview she was conducting with a potential housing specialist unannounced. She said she told Thao that she was surprised and frustrated with his presence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On cross-examination, defense attorneys pointed out that Thao also had multiple other trusted advisors who didn’t hold official roles in her office, including Zac Unger, now a city councilmember, who at the time was a leader of the Association of Firefighters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thao’s attorney, Daryl Tarver, asked Hanson if she recalled that “Thao had a number of advisors who were not employees” and felt it was “important to get community perspective” from people like pastors, business leaders and first responders. Hanson said yes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedman also asked Hanson about a key aspect of their case against the former mayor: Thao’s interest in elevating Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department, to a director role within the city’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have alleged that as part of the quid pro quo Thao and Jones made with the Duongs, she agreed to place their favored candidates in leadership positions, and, according to the federal indictment, that Gallegos was one of those candidates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson testified that Thao suggested Gallegos might be a good fit for the housing department and was interested in elevating him to a leadership role. Hanson said she disagreed and told Thao he wasn’t qualified, but suggested he could be a good leader in his current department. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104318\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026, for the opening day of her federal corruption trial. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was worried about retaining some of our really high-quality leaders in the housing department, and hiring a really strong director would be important,” she testified. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said she believed she and Thao had come to an agreement that he would remain in the economic and workforce development department. But on March 10, 2023, Thao told Hanson he’d be appointed deputy housing director. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson texted Thao, confused by the sudden change in course. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“She shared that she had spoken to Harold and that he would be appointed to the deputy director housing role,” Hanson testified. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gallegos was named Interim Deputy Director that day, just one day after prosecutors said Thao attended a dinner with all the co-defendants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson will continue testifying next week, when the trial resumes Monday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">Alex Hall\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hanson said that after Thao returned from Vietnam, a journalist reached out to the mayor’s office regarding some of the people on the trip who were stopped by customs in relation to “concern that there was drug paraphernalia” and “potentially involvement with young women.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao was vocal in her platform about sexual mistreatment of women, Hanson said, adding she was “incredibly upset that potentially some members of the delegation potentially participated.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In January 2023, Hanson said Jones attended a meeting between city staffers and the city attorney about the decision to remove Oakland’s police chief at the time, Leonne Armstrong, and place him \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974985/former-oakland-police-chief-leronne-armstrong-sues-city-for-wrongful-termination\">on leave\u003c/a> after reports that the department improperly investigated misconduct charges.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That same month, Hanson said Jones also joined a virtual interview she was conducting with a potential housing specialist unannounced. She said she told Thao that she was surprised and frustrated with his presence.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedman also asked Hanson about a key aspect of their case against the former mayor: Thao’s interest in elevating Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department, to a director role within the city’s administration.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedman also asked Hanson about a key aspect of their case against the former mayor: Thao’s interest in elevating Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department, to a director role within the city’s administration.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have alleged that as part of the quid pro quo Thao and Jones made with the Duongs, she agreed to place their favored candidates in leadership positions, and, according to the federal indictment, that Gallegos was one of those candidates.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have alleged that as part of the quid pro quo Thao and Jones made with the Duongs, she agreed to place their favored candidates in leadership positions, and, according to the federal indictment, that Gallegos was one of those candidates.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hanson testified that Thao suggested Gallegos might be a good fit for the housing department and was interested in elevating him to a leadership role. Hanson said she disagreed and told Thao he wasn’t qualified, but suggested he could be a good leader in his current department. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Hanson testified that Thao suggested Gallegos might be a good fit for the housing department and was interested in elevating him to a leadership role. Hanson said she disagreed and told Thao he wasn’t qualified, but suggested he could be a good leader in his current department. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104318\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026, for the opening day of her federal corruption trial.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I was worried about retaining some of our really high-quality leaders in the housing department, and hiring a really strong director would be important,” she testified. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hanson said she believed she and Thao had come to an agreement that he would remain in the economic and workforce development department. But on March 10, 2023, Thao told Hanson he’d be appointed deputy housing director. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“She shared that she had spoken to Harold and that he would be appointed to the deputy director housing role,” Hanson testified. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gallegos was named Interim Deputy Director that day, just one day after prosecutors said Thao attended a dinner with all the co-defendants.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hanson will continue testifying next week, when the trial resumes Monday.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">Alex Hall\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "During the first day of testimony in the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her former chief of staff also testified about her concerns over the role Thao’s romantic partner held in her office and criticisms of her staffing picks. ",
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"title": "Former Thao Staffer Says Office Was Asked About Alleged Child Sex Trafficking on Vietnam Trip | KQED",
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"headline": "Former Thao Staffer Says Office Was Asked About Alleged Child Sex Trafficking on Vietnam Trip",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>During the first day of testimony on Thursday in the federal corruption \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao-trial\">trial of Sheng Thao\u003c/a>, the ex-mayor’s chief of staff told the court a journalist reached out to her office to ask about potential sex trafficking of minors during a 2023 trade trip to Vietnam. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The explosive allegations come as Thao faces bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges alongside her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, recycling executive David Duong, and his son, Andy Duong. All attended the trip, which was spearheaded by the Vietnamese American Business Association, a group Duong chaired. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During the roughly five hours of testimony, Leigh Hanson, Thao’s friend and former chief of staff, also disclosed concerns she had aired regarding Jones’ unofficial and at times inappropriate role in the mayor’s office, as well as criticisms she voiced about Thao’s staffing picks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said that after Thao returned from Vietnam, a journalist reached out to the mayor’s office regarding some of the people on the trip who were stopped by customs in relation to “concern that there was drug paraphernalia” and “potentially involvement with young women.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1372\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260903-ShengThaoTrial-10-scaled-e1792105909155.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098348\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins and former Mayor Sheng Thao’s Chief of Staff Leigh Hanson wait while former Rep. Barbara Lee files paperwork to run for mayor at City Hall in Oakland, California, on Jan. 8, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said the journalist told Francis Zamora, Thao’s former communications director, that “there was potential a story would be written about that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said when she and Zamora relayed the message to Thao, the former mayor became “very upset at Andy Duong,” saying of him, “I hate that fucking playboy, he’s always been trouble, he’s going to ruin my career.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Andy Duong did not respond to a request for comment as he left the courthouse. His attorneys said any response would come “only in court.” They have not cross-examined Hanson yet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thao was vocal in her platform about sexual mistreatment of women, Hanson said, adding she was “incredibly upset that potentially some members of the delegation potentially participated.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a co-defendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson also testified she had concerns about Jones’ role in the mayor’s office. He was not a city employee or formal member of Thao’s team, but Hanson said he attended multiple meetings unannounced.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In January 2023, Hanson said Jones attended a meeting between city staffers and the city attorney about the decision to remove Oakland’s police chief at the time, Leonne Armstrong, and place him \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974985/former-oakland-police-chief-leronne-armstrong-sues-city-for-wrongful-termination\">on leave\u003c/a> after reports that the department improperly investigated misconduct charges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said that the meeting ultimately didn’t occur. She walked out of the room over concerns that having Jones present would jeopardize the confidentiality afforded to city employees meeting about privileged information, she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson alleged that in response to her concerns, Jones appeared to threaten her job, saying: “We’ll see which one of us is left at the end of the day.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That same month, Hanson said Jones also joined a virtual interview she was conducting with a potential housing specialist unannounced. She said she told Thao that she was surprised and frustrated with his presence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On cross-examination, defense attorneys pointed out that Thao also had multiple other trusted advisors who didn’t hold official roles in her office, including Zac Unger, now a city councilmember, who at the time was a leader of the Association of Firefighters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thao’s attorney, Daryl Tarver, asked Hanson if she recalled that “Thao had a number of advisors who were not employees” and felt it was “important to get community perspective” from people like pastors, business leaders and first responders. Hanson said yes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedman also asked Hanson about a key aspect of their case against the former mayor: Thao’s interest in elevating Larry Gallegos, a project manager in the city’s economic workforce development department, to a director role within the city’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have alleged that as part of the quid pro quo Thao and Jones made with the Duongs, she agreed to place their favored candidates in leadership positions, and, according to the federal indictment, that Gallegos was one of those candidates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson testified that Thao suggested Gallegos might be a good fit for the housing department and was interested in elevating him to a leadership role. Hanson said she disagreed and told Thao he wasn’t qualified, but suggested he could be a good leader in his current department. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104318\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-05-BL-KQED-aa7cf255-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026, for the opening day of her federal corruption trial. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was worried about retaining some of our really high-quality leaders in the housing department, and hiring a really strong director would be important,” she testified. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson said she believed she and Thao had come to an agreement that he would remain in the economic and workforce development department. But on March 10, 2023, Thao told Hanson he’d be appointed deputy housing director. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson texted Thao, confused by the sudden change in course. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“She shared that she had spoken to Harold and that he would be appointed to the deputy director housing role,” Hanson testified. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gallegos was named Interim Deputy Director that day, just one day after prosecutors said Thao attended a dinner with all the co-defendants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hanson will continue testifying next week, when the trial resumes Monday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">Alex Hall\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "politics-as-profit-or-pure-fiction-bribery-trial-of-ex-oakland-mayor-kicks-off",
"title": "Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Trial Brings Alleged Quid Pro Quo Into Focus",
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"headTitle": "Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Trial Brings Alleged Quid Pro Quo Into Focus | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>More than a year after former Oakland Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Sheng Thao\u003c/a> and three codefendants were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022517/fbi-raids-home-san-leandro-council-member-joined-vietnam-trip-sheng-thao\">indicted\u003c/a> in an alleged bribery scheme that roiled the city’s political circles, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103084/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-is-going-on-trial-for-bribery-heres-what-you-need-to-know\">long-awaited trial\u003c/a> got underway Wednesday with five very different storylines. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors allege Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, and father and son Andy and David Duong engaged in a quid pro quo: In the run-up to the 2022 mayoral election, the Duongs would fund a negative ad campaign against Thao’s opponents and pay Jones $300,000 for a no-show job. In exchange, Thao would use her power if elected mayor to give favorable treatment to the Duongs’ business, California Waste Solutions, as well as to a housing startup called Evolutionary Homes that sought to turn shipping containers into homes for people exiting homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Sheng Thao was a public official on the take, and she and Andre Jones were open for business,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine said during his opening statement to the court. “David and Andy Duong were looking for results and were willing to pay bribes to get them.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Assistant United States Attorney Abraham Fine gives his opening statement during the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, as codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong sit to the side, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is not politics as usual,” he said, “this is politics as profit.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Each of the defendants has pleaded not guilty, and none spoke to reporters after opening statements on Tuesday. While each of their attorneys painted a different picture of what actually happened between the parties, they all agreed that Mario Juarez — the Duongs’ former business partner and the prosecution’s key witness — should not be believed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The narrator of this story is that person named Mario Juarez, and what you will quickly discover is that the story that has been introduced to you is pure fiction,” Thao’s attorney, Jeffrey Tsai, said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The trial comes more than two years after the FBI executed early morning raids of the home Thao shared with Jones, as well as Andy and David Duong’s homes and California Waste Solutions’ headquarters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The operation added fuel to a campaign already underway to recall Thao. She was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">removed from office\u003c/a> in November 2024 and indicted on the bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges shortly after. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sheng Thao was not for sale\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai painted Thao as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">young, determined politician\u003c/a> who came into office in January 2023 prepared to tackle major challenges facing the city of Oakland — from a homelessness crisis and budget deficit to gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thao had known Juarez from her years as a staffer in Oakland City Hall, but Tsai said Thao kept him at a comfortable distance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai alleged Juarez repeatedly tried to offer Thao support throughout her 2022 mayoral campaign. When they finally met in October, just weeks before Election Day, Juarez allegedly told Thao that labor unions sent him to help her win, and he planned to produce a political mailer in support of her race.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeffrey Tsai (left), attorney for former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (second from right), gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Thao and codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There was certainly no agreement for any bribe of any kind, no discussion of $300,000 or modular housing units,” Tsai said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai said that after her election, Juarez repeatedly appealed to Thao, advocating for city contracts for companies he was affiliated with, including ABC Security Service Inc. — which provides \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2025/12/17/oakland-leaders-reluctantly-extend-security-contract-again/\">security services\u003c/a> at city properties — and urging her to appoint his favored candidates to top city positions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai said Thao repeatedly rebuked his requests and had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The evidence will show that the real Sheng Thao is not the profile of someone who would sell her office that she fought so hard to earn in the first place,” Tsai told the jury.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andre Jones had a ‘real job’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jones’ defense attorney, Mark Goldrosen, spent his opening on behalf of Thao’s longtime romantic partner defending the “government relations” role Jones held with the container home startup Juarez and Andy Duong founded that’s at the center of the case. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a codefendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Goldrosen said Evolutionary Homes aligned with Jones’ interests and qualifications, both in reducing homelessness and working with local governments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was hired to serve as a consultant and would be paid on commission. But as the company got off the ground, Goldrosen said he was paid advances, totaling $75,000, to “keep him available” to Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">David Duong: A normal businessman\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like Thao, David Duong’s attorney told the court he was oblivious to any scheme. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jeff Schenk described David as a hardworking immigrant from Vietnam and a legitimate businessman. He held the financial power, Schenk said, but had no knowledge of any bribery scheme or deals that his son and Juarez allegedly made with Thao and Jones. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Duong, co-owner of California Waste Solutions and a codefendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, left, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He referred the jury to a series of texts between Andy Duong and Juarez in March 2023, in which Juarez asked Andy if they should “tell David” about updates to their alleged arrangement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If David Duong was a partner in crime … why, five months after the beginning, does Juarez have to ask if they should share?” Schenk said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andy Duong didn’t break any laws\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>None of the other defendants’ stories, however, seemed to vindicate Andy Duong — who prosecutors allege spearheaded negotiations in the scheme with Juarez. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His counsel, Winston Chan, acknowledged that some of the text communication he had with Juarez, taken out of context, couldn’t be denied. However, he said the government had crafted a story based on “cherry-picked” messages and notes. He said Duong’s texts cheering Thao’s victory were not unusual for a politically engaged voter, and his response to Juarez saying Thao would buy housing units from Evolutionary Homes reflected a startup founder’s shock and excitement that a city might invest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104322\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong, son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and a codefendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Not one bit of these facts equals the bribery scheme the government is alleging,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Whether the pieces of evidence the prosecution presents add up to the story of bribery the government has alleged “lives or dies” on Juarez’s testimony, Chan told the jury, and whether, “when he takes the stand, you believe what he says.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mario Juarez: A ‘consummate hustler’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Throughout the day, defense attorneys repeatedly undermined Juarez’s credibility, describing him as a “consummate hustler” and “vengeful” with a tendency to tell “half truths.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When the source of the information is unreliable, you see that the allegations fall apart,” Schenk said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fine got ahead of the criticism in his own opening statement, saying of Juarez: “You’ll hear and see, he is no angel.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, he said, the Evolutionary Homes cofounder would “give you an insider’s view of this bribery scheme.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He’ll talk about the evidence, what was said in the meetings,” Fine told the jury, “tell you some about his history of doing dirty work for the Duong family.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fine pledged that throughout the trial, prosecutors planned to present copious text messages, taped phone calls, video recordings and financial records chronicling the conspiracy and bribery scheme — and corroborating Juarez’s claims. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When you hear Juarez’s testimony, will see how it lines up with all of that other evidence,” Fine told the court.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During the first day of testimony on Thursday, prosecutors plan to call Leigh Hanson, who served as Thao’s chief of staff. Hanson parted with the city shortly after Kevin Jenkins took office as interim mayor following Thao’s recall and subsequently \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/04/01/leigh-hanson-oakland-mayor-chief-of-staff-whistleblower-lawsuit/\">filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> against Oakland alleging that she was wrongfully fired.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">Alex Hall\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors allege Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, and father and son Andy and David Duong engaged in a quid pro quo: In the run-up to the 2022 mayoral election, the Duongs would fund a negative ad campaign against Thao’s opponents and pay Jones $300,000 for a no-show job. In exchange, Thao would use her power if elected mayor to give favorable treatment to the Duongs’ business, California Waste Solutions, as well as to a housing startup called Evolutionary Homes that sought to turn shipping containers into homes for people exiting homelessness.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Prosecutors allege Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, and father and son Andy and David Duong engaged in a quid pro quo: In the run-up to the 2022 mayoral election, the Duongs would fund a negative ad campaign against Thao’s opponents and pay Jones $300,000 for a no-show job. In exchange, Thao would use her power if elected mayor to give favorable treatment to the Duongs’ business, California Waste Solutions, as well as to a housing startup called Evolutionary Homes that sought to turn shipping containers into homes for people exiting homelessness.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Sheng Thao was a public official on the take, and she and Andre Jones were open for business,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine said during his opening statement to the court. “David and Andy Duong were looking for results and were willing to pay bribes to get them.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Sheng Thao was a public official on the take, and she and Andre Jones were open for business,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine said during his opening statement to the court. “David and Andy Duong were looking for results and were willing to pay bribes to get them.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Assistant United States Attorney Abraham Fine gives his opening statement during the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, as codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong sit to the side, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104353\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Assistant United States Attorney Abraham Fine gives his opening statement during the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, as codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong sit to the side, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is not politics as usual,” he said, “this is politics as profit.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This is not politics as usual,” he said, “this is politics as profit.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Each of the defendants has pleaded not guilty, and none spoke to reporters after opening statements on Tuesday. While each of their attorneys painted a different picture of what actually happened between the parties, they all agreed that Mario Juarez — the Duongs’ former business partner and the prosecution’s key witness — should not be believed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Each of the defendants has pleaded not guilty, and none spoke to reporters after opening statements on Tuesday. While each of their attorneys painted a different picture of what actually happened between the parties, they all agreed that Mario Juarez — the Duongs’ former business partner and the prosecution’s key witness — should not be believed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The narrator of this story is that person named Mario Juarez, and what you will quickly discover is that the story that has been introduced to you is pure fiction,” Thao’s attorney, Jeffrey Tsai, said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The narrator of this story is that person named Mario Juarez, and what you will quickly discover is that the story that has been introduced to you is pure fiction,” Thao’s attorney, Jeffrey Tsai, said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The trial comes more than two years after the FBI executed early morning raids of the home Thao shared with Jones, as well as Andy and David Duong’s homes and California Waste Solutions’ headquarters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The trial comes more than two years after the FBI executed early morning raids of the home Thao shared with Jones, as well as Andy and David Duong’s homes and California Waste Solutions’ headquarters. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The operation added fuel to a campaign already underway to recall Thao. She was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">removed from office\u003c/a> in November 2024 and indicted on the bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges shortly after. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The operation added fuel to a campaign already underway to recall Thao. She was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">removed from office\u003c/a> in November 2024 and indicted on the bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges shortly after. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Sheng Thao was not for sale",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sheng Thao was not for sale\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tsai painted Thao as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">young, determined politician\u003c/a> who came into office in January 2023 prepared to tackle major challenges facing the city of Oakland — from a homelessness crisis and budget deficit to gun violence.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tsai painted Thao as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">young, determined politician\u003c/a> who came into office in January 2023 prepared to tackle major challenges facing the city of Oakland — from a homelessness crisis and budget deficit to gun violence.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Thao had known Juarez from her years as a staffer in Oakland City Hall, but Tsai said Thao kept him at a comfortable distance. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Thao had known Juarez from her years as a staffer in Oakland City Hall, but Tsai said Thao kept him at a comfortable distance. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tsai alleged Juarez repeatedly tried to offer Thao support throughout her 2022 mayoral campaign. When they finally met in October, just weeks before Election Day, Juarez allegedly told Thao that labor unions sent him to help her win, and he planned to produce a political mailer in support of her race.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tsai alleged Juarez repeatedly tried to offer Thao support throughout her 2022 mayoral campaign. When they finally met in October, just weeks before Election Day, Juarez allegedly told Thao that labor unions sent him to help her win, and he planned to produce a political mailer in support of her race.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeffrey Tsai (left), attorney for former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (second from right), gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Thao and codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104424\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeffrey Tsai (left), attorney for former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (second from right), gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Thao and codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There was certainly no agreement for any bribe of any kind, no discussion of $300,000 or modular housing units,” Tsai said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There was certainly no agreement for any bribe of any kind, no discussion of $300,000 or modular housing units,” Tsai said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tsai said that after her election, Juarez repeatedly appealed to Thao, advocating for city contracts for companies he was affiliated with, including ABC Security Service Inc. — which provides \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2025/12/17/oakland-leaders-reluctantly-extend-security-contract-again/\">security services\u003c/a> at city properties — and urging her to appoint his favored candidates to top city positions. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tsai said that after her election, Juarez repeatedly appealed to Thao, advocating for city contracts for companies he was affiliated with, including ABC Security Service Inc. — which provides \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2025/12/17/oakland-leaders-reluctantly-extend-security-contract-again/\">security services\u003c/a> at city properties — and urging her to appoint his favored candidates to top city positions. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tsai said Thao repeatedly rebuked his requests and had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tsai said Thao repeatedly rebuked his requests and had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The evidence will show that the real Sheng Thao is not the profile of someone who would sell her office that she fought so hard to earn in the first place,” Tsai told the jury.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The evidence will show that the real Sheng Thao is not the profile of someone who would sell her office that she fought so hard to earn in the first place,” Tsai told the jury.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andre Jones had a ‘real job’\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Goldrosen said Evolutionary Homes aligned with Jones’ interests and qualifications, both in reducing homelessness and working with local governments. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He was hired to serve as a consultant and would be paid on commission. But as the company got off the ground, Goldrosen said he was paid advances, totaling $75,000, to “keep him available” to Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jeff Schenk described David as a hardworking immigrant from Vietnam and a legitimate businessman. He held the financial power, Schenk said, but had no knowledge of any bribery scheme or deals that his son and Juarez allegedly made with Thao and Jones. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He referred the jury to a series of texts between Andy Duong and Juarez in March 2023, in which Juarez asked Andy if they should “tell David” about updates to their alleged arrangement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104322\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong, son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and a codefendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Not one bit of these facts equals the bribery scheme the government is alleging,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Fine got ahead of the criticism in his own opening statement, saying of Juarez: “You’ll hear and see, he is no angel.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>However, he said, the Evolutionary Homes cofounder would “give you an insider’s view of this bribery scheme.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Fine pledged that throughout the trial, prosecutors planned to present copious text messages, taped phone calls, video recordings and financial records chronicling the conspiracy and bribery scheme — and corroborating Juarez’s claims. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During the first day of testimony on Thursday, prosecutors plan to call Leigh Hanson, who served as Thao’s chief of staff. Hanson parted with the city shortly after Kevin Jenkins took office as interim mayor following Thao’s recall and subsequently \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/04/01/leigh-hanson-oakland-mayor-chief-of-staff-whistleblower-lawsuit/\">filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> against Oakland alleging that she was wrongfully fired.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">Alex Hall\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "In the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, prosecutors claimed Thao put her political power up for sale, while defense attorneys attempted to impeach the government’s star witness. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>More than a year after former Oakland Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Sheng Thao\u003c/a> and three codefendants were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022517/fbi-raids-home-san-leandro-council-member-joined-vietnam-trip-sheng-thao\">indicted\u003c/a> in an alleged bribery scheme that roiled the city’s political circles, their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12103084/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-is-going-on-trial-for-bribery-heres-what-you-need-to-know\">long-awaited trial\u003c/a> got underway Wednesday with five very different storylines. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors allege Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, and father and son Andy and David Duong engaged in a quid pro quo: In the run-up to the 2022 mayoral election, the Duongs would fund a negative ad campaign against Thao’s opponents and pay Jones $300,000 for a no-show job. In exchange, Thao would use her power if elected mayor to give favorable treatment to the Duongs’ business, California Waste Solutions, as well as to a housing startup called Evolutionary Homes that sought to turn shipping containers into homes for people exiting homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Sheng Thao was a public official on the take, and she and Andre Jones were open for business,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine said during his opening statement to the court. “David and Andy Duong were looking for results and were willing to pay bribes to get them.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch1_VB-KQED-1da243ee-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Assistant United States Attorney Abraham Fine gives his opening statement during the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, as codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong sit to the side, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is not politics as usual,” he said, “this is politics as profit.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Each of the defendants has pleaded not guilty, and none spoke to reporters after opening statements on Tuesday. While each of their attorneys painted a different picture of what actually happened between the parties, they all agreed that Mario Juarez — the Duongs’ former business partner and the prosecution’s key witness — should not be believed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The narrator of this story is that person named Mario Juarez, and what you will quickly discover is that the story that has been introduced to you is pure fiction,” Thao’s attorney, Jeffrey Tsai, said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The trial comes more than two years after the FBI executed early morning raids of the home Thao shared with Jones, as well as Andy and David Duong’s homes and California Waste Solutions’ headquarters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The operation added fuel to a campaign already underway to recall Thao. She was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">removed from office\u003c/a> in November 2024 and indicted on the bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges shortly after. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sheng Thao was not for sale\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai painted Thao as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">young, determined politician\u003c/a> who came into office in January 2023 prepared to tackle major challenges facing the city of Oakland — from a homelessness crisis and budget deficit to gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Thao had known Juarez from her years as a staffer in Oakland City Hall, but Tsai said Thao kept him at a comfortable distance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai alleged Juarez repeatedly tried to offer Thao support throughout her 2022 mayoral campaign. When they finally met in October, just weeks before Election Day, Juarez allegedly told Thao that labor unions sent him to help her win, and he planned to produce a political mailer in support of her race.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/ShengThaoOpeningStatements_Sketch2_VB-KQED-e1ec0350-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeffrey Tsai (left), attorney for former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (second from right), gives his opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Thao and codefendants Andre Jones, Andy Duong and David Duong, at the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There was certainly no agreement for any bribe of any kind, no discussion of $300,000 or modular housing units,” Tsai said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai said that after her election, Juarez repeatedly appealed to Thao, advocating for city contracts for companies he was affiliated with, including ABC Security Service Inc. — which provides \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2025/12/17/oakland-leaders-reluctantly-extend-security-contract-again/\">security services\u003c/a> at city properties — and urging her to appoint his favored candidates to top city positions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tsai said Thao repeatedly rebuked his requests and had no knowledge of any bribery scheme promising city contracts and staff appointments.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The evidence will show that the real Sheng Thao is not the profile of someone who would sell her office that she fought so hard to earn in the first place,” Tsai told the jury.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andre Jones had a ‘real job’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jones’ defense attorney, Mark Goldrosen, spent his opening on behalf of Thao’s longtime romantic partner defending the “government relations” role Jones held with the container home startup Juarez and Andy Duong founded that’s at the center of the case. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-13-BL-KQED-e1d5bdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a codefendant in her federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Goldrosen said Evolutionary Homes aligned with Jones’ interests and qualifications, both in reducing homelessness and working with local governments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was hired to serve as a consultant and would be paid on commission. But as the company got off the ground, Goldrosen said he was paid advances, totaling $75,000, to “keep him available” to Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">David Duong: A normal businessman\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Like Thao, David Duong’s attorney told the court he was oblivious to any scheme. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jeff Schenk described David as a hardworking immigrant from Vietnam and a legitimate businessman. He held the financial power, Schenk said, but had no knowledge of any bribery scheme or deals that his son and Juarez allegedly made with Thao and Jones. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-14-BL-KQED-8b44fd15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Duong, co-owner of California Waste Solutions and a codefendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, left, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He referred the jury to a series of texts between Andy Duong and Juarez in March 2023, in which Juarez asked Andy if they should “tell David” about updates to their alleged arrangement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If David Duong was a partner in crime … why, five months after the beginning, does Juarez have to ask if they should share?” Schenk said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Andy Duong didn’t break any laws\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>None of the other defendants’ stories, however, seemed to vindicate Andy Duong — who prosecutors allege spearheaded negotiations in the scheme with Juarez. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His counsel, Winston Chan, acknowledged that some of the text communication he had with Juarez, taken out of context, couldn’t be denied. However, he said the government had crafted a story based on “cherry-picked” messages and notes. He said Duong’s texts cheering Thao’s victory were not unusual for a politically engaged voter, and his response to Juarez saying Thao would buy housing units from Evolutionary Homes reflected a startup founder’s shock and excitement that a city might invest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104322\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-ShengThaoOpeningStatements-23-BL-KQED-11da677f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andy Duong, son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and a codefendant in former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal corruption trial, enters the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Not one bit of these facts equals the bribery scheme the government is alleging,” Chan said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Whether the pieces of evidence the prosecution presents add up to the story of bribery the government has alleged “lives or dies” on Juarez’s testimony, Chan told the jury, and whether, “when he takes the stand, you believe what he says.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mario Juarez: A ‘consummate hustler’\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Throughout the day, defense attorneys repeatedly undermined Juarez’s credibility, describing him as a “consummate hustler” and “vengeful” with a tendency to tell “half truths.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When the source of the information is unreliable, you see that the allegations fall apart,” Schenk said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fine got ahead of the criticism in his own opening statement, saying of Juarez: “You’ll hear and see, he is no angel.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, he said, the Evolutionary Homes cofounder would “give you an insider’s view of this bribery scheme.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He’ll talk about the evidence, what was said in the meetings,” Fine told the jury, “tell you some about his history of doing dirty work for the Duong family.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fine pledged that throughout the trial, prosecutors planned to present copious text messages, taped phone calls, video recordings and financial records chronicling the conspiracy and bribery scheme — and corroborating Juarez’s claims. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When you hear Juarez’s testimony, will see how it lines up with all of that other evidence,” Fine told the court.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During the first day of testimony on Thursday, prosecutors plan to call Leigh Hanson, who served as Thao’s chief of staff. Hanson parted with the city shortly after Kevin Jenkins took office as interim mayor following Thao’s recall and subsequently \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/04/01/leigh-hanson-oakland-mayor-chief-of-staff-whistleblower-lawsuit/\">filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> against Oakland alleging that she was wrongfully fired.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">Alex Hall\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "in-laws-of-slain-new-york-times-executive-charged-with-his-murder",
"title": "In-Laws of Slain New York Times Executive Charged With His Murder",
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"headTitle": "In-Laws of Slain New York Times Executive Charged With His Murder | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The parents-in-law of a \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> executive were charged with his murder on Wednesday, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/alameda-county\">Alameda County\u003c/a> District Attorney’s Office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, are accused of developing a plan to shoot 40-year-old Jonathan McKinsey in a parking lot near a Dublin park on Sept. 26. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Police officials located McKinsey lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds near the Dublin Sports Grounds just after 3 p.m. He was declared deceased on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Zhang and Chen, a husband and wife whose daughter, Candace Jang, was married to McKinsey, are accused of shooting him “in concert,” according to witness reports and surveillance footage obtained by the district attorney’s office. They also face multiple special enhancements — which could add extra prison time or penalties to a sentence — one on the grounds of “lying in wait,” which means that they premeditated the killing and waited for the moment to act.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102244\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The East County Hall of Justice in Dublin on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Court documents said the couple fled the scene in a black Honda Civic, driven by Chen. They were detained after being pulled over while traveling westbound through the Dublin Sports Ground parking lot, toward Civic Plaza.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Officers later located a firearm in Chen’s possession. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If found guilty, the couple could face lifetime prison sentences without the opportunity for parole.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chen and Zhang were due in Dublin’s East County Hall of Justice on Wednesday morning to make their initial appearance in the case. They are currently in custody at Santa Rita Jail.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have not yet revealed a motive for the killing, but court records show that family dynamics were fraught between Jang, her parents and McKinsey, who worked as the director of engineering for \u003cem>The New York Times’ \u003c/em>games department.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In December, McKinsey filed for divorce after he and Jang had exchanged restraining orders, both alleging domestic violence in the months prior. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Oct. 23, Jang requested a restraining order against McKinsey, and he responded with his own on Dec. 11.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Court records show they were also in the midst of a custody dispute over their three young children. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to court documents \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/us/jonathan-mckinsey-shooting-california-charges.html\">obtained by the \u003cem>Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>,\u003c/em> McKinsey, who was transgender, had accused Jang and her parents of abusing him because of his identity. Jang alleged that McKinsey had abused her and the children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the time of his death, McKinsey was out of custody pending separate misdemeanor child abuse charges, which he pled not guilty to last year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prior to McKinsey’s death, he and Jang were due in court on Friday for a status conference.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Zhang and Chen, a husband and wife whose daughter, Candace Jang, was married to McKinsey, are accused of shooting him “in concert,” according to witness reports and surveillance footage obtained by the district attorney’s office. They also face multiple special enhancements — which could add extra prison time or penalties to a sentence — one on the grounds of “lying in wait,” which means that they premeditated the killing and waited for the moment to act.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102244\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The East County Hall of Justice in Dublin on Sept. 30, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Court documents said the couple fled the scene in a black Honda Civic, driven by Chen. They were detained after being pulled over while traveling westbound through the Dublin Sports Ground parking lot, toward Civic Plaza.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chen and Zhang were due in Dublin’s East County Hall of Justice on Wednesday morning to make their initial appearance in the case. They are currently in custody at Santa Rita Jail.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have not yet revealed a motive for the killing, but court records show that family dynamics were fraught between Jang, her parents and McKinsey, who worked as the director of engineering for \u003cem>The New York Times’ \u003c/em>games department.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In December, McKinsey filed for divorce after he and Jang had exchanged restraining orders, both alleging domestic violence in the months prior. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to court documents \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/us/jonathan-mckinsey-shooting-california-charges.html\">obtained by the \u003cem>Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>,\u003c/em> McKinsey, who was transgender, had accused Jang and her parents of abusing him because of his identity. Jang alleged that McKinsey had abused her and the children.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the time of his death, McKinsey was out of custody pending separate misdemeanor child abuse charges, which he pled not guilty to last year. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prior to McKinsey’s death, he and Jang were due in court on Friday for a status conference.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The slain executive was previously due for a court appearance with his ex-wife this week amid a custody dispute.",
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"title": "In-Laws of Slain New York Times Executive Charged With His Murder | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The parents-in-law of a \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> executive were charged with his murder on Wednesday, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/alameda-county\">Alameda County\u003c/a> District Attorney’s Office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, are accused of developing a plan to shoot 40-year-old Jonathan McKinsey in a parking lot near a Dublin park on Sept. 26. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Police officials located McKinsey lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds near the Dublin Sports Grounds just after 3 p.m. He was declared deceased on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Zhang and Chen, a husband and wife whose daughter, Candace Jang, was married to McKinsey, are accused of shooting him “in concert,” according to witness reports and surveillance footage obtained by the district attorney’s office. They also face multiple special enhancements — which could add extra prison time or penalties to a sentence — one on the grounds of “lying in wait,” which means that they premeditated the killing and waited for the moment to act.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12102244\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260930-DUBLINARRAIGNMENT-00106_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The East County Hall of Justice in Dublin on Sept. 30, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Court documents said the couple fled the scene in a black Honda Civic, driven by Chen. They were detained after being pulled over while traveling westbound through the Dublin Sports Ground parking lot, toward Civic Plaza.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Officers later located a firearm in Chen’s possession. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If found guilty, the couple could face lifetime prison sentences without the opportunity for parole.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chen and Zhang were due in Dublin’s East County Hall of Justice on Wednesday morning to make their initial appearance in the case. They are currently in custody at Santa Rita Jail.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors have not yet revealed a motive for the killing, but court records show that family dynamics were fraught between Jang, her parents and McKinsey, who worked as the director of engineering for \u003cem>The New York Times’ \u003c/em>games department.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In December, McKinsey filed for divorce after he and Jang had exchanged restraining orders, both alleging domestic violence in the months prior. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Oct. 23, Jang requested a restraining order against McKinsey, and he responded with his own on Dec. 11.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Court records show they were also in the midst of a custody dispute over their three young children. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to court documents \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/us/jonathan-mckinsey-shooting-california-charges.html\">obtained by the \u003cem>Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>,\u003c/em> McKinsey, who was transgender, had accused Jang and her parents of abusing him because of his identity. Jang alleged that McKinsey had abused her and the children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the time of his death, McKinsey was out of custody pending separate misdemeanor child abuse charges, which he pled not guilty to last year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prior to McKinsey’s death, he and Jang were due in court on Friday for a status conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-new-beginning-oakland-police-to-exit-federal-oversight-after-23-years",
"title": "‘A New Beginning’ : Oakland Police to Exit Federal Oversight After 23 Years",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>A judge released Oakland’s police force on Tuesday from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101593/oakland-police-could-finally-emerge-from-oversight-23-years-after-riders\">more than 20 years of federal oversight\u003c/a>, thought to be the longest for any American law enforcement agency.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The department will regain full independence after U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick said that the “season for judicial oversight is over.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“While it was important for this court to play the role it has, now it’s important for the court to get out of the way, and let the people of Oakland and their leaders fill their future,” Orrick told the San Francisco courtroom, filled with Oakland city officials.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OPD has been subject to court oversight since 2003, when it settled an $11 million class action lawsuit in the wake of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101891855/oakland-police-departments-brutality-corruption-and-cover-up-and-long-road-toward-reform\">notorious police brutality\u003c/a> and corruption scandal. Four officers, known as the “Riders,” were accused of beating, planting evidence and falsely arresting West Oakland residents, and engaging in intimidation, beatings, kidnapping and racial discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101966\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>The department agreed to a federally mandated consent decree that required it to implement 51 organizational reforms related to the use of force, discipline, supervision, training and internal affairs investigations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>James Chanin, who has represented the plaintiffs in the case, called the department’s change since then “astronomic.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re a much different department than they were. It’s like night and day,” he told the court on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Initially, court oversight was expected to last between five and seven years. Instead, it’s been delayed by repeated \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/04/10/high-ranking-oakland-cops-including-deputy-chief-face-serious-discipline-for-allegedly-botching-investigation/\">missteps\u003c/a>, backsliding, a revolving door of police chiefs and multiple city administrations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OPD met most of the requirements years ago, and has been responsible for sustaining them since 2022. But they’ve continued to fall short of a few of the tasks, keeping them in limbo. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, court-appointed monitor Robert S. Warshaw reported that the department had fallen out of compliance with its requirement to investigate serious misconduct allegations in a timely manner, leaving open the possibility that Orrick would keep OPD under the court’s watch longer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The settlement requires OPD to complete at least 85% of internal affairs investigations related to “the most serious allegations of misconduct” within 180 days of reporting. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Between January and March of this year, though, Warshaw found that just 77 of 93, or 83%, of these investigations were completed in time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both Chanin and plaintiffs’ other attorney, John Burris, said that while they were disappointed by the slip, they both supported ending the negotiated settlement agreement, or NSA.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We have been involved in pushing this rock up the hill for 23 years, and every time we got close, it’s fallen back down,” Burris told the court. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Today, I am hoping to say we’ve pushed this rock as far as we can … and it’s up to the city to push it [the rest of the way].”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s not about today, it’s about tomorrow,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brigid Martin, Oakland’s special counsel, said in response that the city “has absolute certainty about what will happen tomorrow, and then next day and the day after that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“NSA compliance is not a temporary obligation; it is the core of Oakland’s police operation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12061256\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Beere, who was selected as Oakland Police Chief this year, speaks at a press conference at Oakland City Hall on Oct. 23, 2025 (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland Police Chief James Beere said that the department had to make “hard decisions” between completing investigations within a 180-day timeline and achieving the thoroughness required in complex cases.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The expectation for our investigation is not an excuse, but the expectations are not the same as they were twenty years ago,” Beere said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Orrick said that while missing the investigation timeline matters, he believes Beere and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee’s leadership will hold the department accountable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Today is not a ceiling, it’s a floor,” Warshaw said in court. “The city should see this not as the end of something, but as a new beginning.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OPD has been subject to court oversight since 2003, when it settled an $11 million class action lawsuit in the wake of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101891855/oakland-police-departments-brutality-corruption-and-cover-up-and-long-road-toward-reform\">notorious police brutality\u003c/a> and corruption scandal. Four officers, known as the “Riders,” were accused of beating, planting evidence and falsely arresting West Oakland residents, and engaging in intimidation, beatings, kidnapping and racial discrimination.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101966\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101966\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The department agreed to a federally mandated consent decree that required it to implement 51 organizational reforms related to the use of force, discipline, supervision, training and internal affairs investigations.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>James Chanin, who has represented the plaintiffs in the case, called the department’s change since then “astronomic.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re a much different department than they were. It’s like night and day,” he told the court on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Initially, court oversight was expected to last between five and seven years. Instead, it’s been delayed by repeated \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/04/10/high-ranking-oakland-cops-including-deputy-chief-face-serious-discipline-for-allegedly-botching-investigation/\">missteps\u003c/a>, backsliding, a revolving door of police chiefs and multiple city administrations.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OPD met most of the requirements years ago, and has been responsible for sustaining them since 2022. But they’ve continued to fall short of a few of the tasks, keeping them in limbo. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, court-appointed monitor Robert S. Warshaw reported that the department had fallen out of compliance with its requirement to investigate serious misconduct allegations in a timely manner, leaving open the possibility that Orrick would keep OPD under the court’s watch longer.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The settlement requires OPD to complete at least 85% of internal affairs investigations related to “the most serious allegations of misconduct” within 180 days of reporting. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Between January and March of this year, though, Warshaw found that just 77 of 93, or 83%, of these investigations were completed in time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Both Chanin and plaintiffs’ other attorney, John Burris, said that while they were disappointed by the slip, they both supported ending the negotiated settlement agreement, or NSA.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We have been involved in pushing this rock up the hill for 23 years, and every time we got close, it’s fallen back down,” Burris told the court. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We have been involved in pushing this rock up the hill for 23 years, and every time we got close, it’s fallen back down,” Burris told the court. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Today, I am hoping to say we’ve pushed this rock as far as we can … and it’s up to the city to push it [the rest of the way].”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s not about today, it’s about tomorrow,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Brigid Martin, Oakland’s special counsel, said in response that the city “has absolute certainty about what will happen tomorrow, and then next day and the day after that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“NSA compliance is not a temporary obligation; it is the core of Oakland’s police operation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“NSA compliance is not a temporary obligation; it is the core of Oakland’s police operation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12061256\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Beere, who was selected as Oakland Police Chief this year, speaks at a press conference at Oakland City Hall on Oct. 23, 2025\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oakland Police Chief James Beere said that the department had to make “hard decisions” between completing investigations within a 180-day timeline and achieving the thoroughness required in complex cases.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The expectation for our investigation is not an excuse, but the expectations are not the same as they were twenty years ago,” Beere said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Orrick said that while missing the investigation timeline matters, he believes Beere and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee’s leadership will hold the department accountable.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Today is not a ceiling, it’s a floor,” Warshaw said in court. “The city should see this not as the end of something, but as a new beginning.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Oakland’s police department came under a consent decree in 2003, after a massive police brutality scandal rocked the city’s law enforcement agency.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>A judge released Oakland’s police force on Tuesday from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101593/oakland-police-could-finally-emerge-from-oversight-23-years-after-riders\">more than 20 years of federal oversight\u003c/a>, thought to be the longest for any American law enforcement agency.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The department will regain full independence after U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick said that the “season for judicial oversight is over.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“While it was important for this court to play the role it has, now it’s important for the court to get out of the way, and let the people of Oakland and their leaders fill their future,” Orrick told the San Francisco courtroom, filled with Oakland city officials.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OPD has been subject to court oversight since 2003, when it settled an $11 million class action lawsuit in the wake of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101891855/oakland-police-departments-brutality-corruption-and-cover-up-and-long-road-toward-reform\">notorious police brutality\u003c/a> and corruption scandal. Four officers, known as the “Riders,” were accused of beating, planting evidence and falsely arresting West Oakland residents, and engaging in intimidation, beatings, kidnapping and racial discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101966\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260929-phillipburtonfederalbuilding-00133_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>The department agreed to a federally mandated consent decree that required it to implement 51 organizational reforms related to the use of force, discipline, supervision, training and internal affairs investigations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>James Chanin, who has represented the plaintiffs in the case, called the department’s change since then “astronomic.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re a much different department than they were. It’s like night and day,” he told the court on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Initially, court oversight was expected to last between five and seven years. Instead, it’s been delayed by repeated \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/04/10/high-ranking-oakland-cops-including-deputy-chief-face-serious-discipline-for-allegedly-botching-investigation/\">missteps\u003c/a>, backsliding, a revolving door of police chiefs and multiple city administrations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OPD met most of the requirements years ago, and has been responsible for sustaining them since 2022. But they’ve continued to fall short of a few of the tasks, keeping them in limbo. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, court-appointed monitor Robert S. Warshaw reported that the department had fallen out of compliance with its requirement to investigate serious misconduct allegations in a timely manner, leaving open the possibility that Orrick would keep OPD under the court’s watch longer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The settlement requires OPD to complete at least 85% of internal affairs investigations related to “the most serious allegations of misconduct” within 180 days of reporting. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Between January and March of this year, though, Warshaw found that just 77 of 93, or 83%, of these investigations were completed in time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both Chanin and plaintiffs’ other attorney, John Burris, said that while they were disappointed by the slip, they both supported ending the negotiated settlement agreement, or NSA.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We have been involved in pushing this rock up the hill for 23 years, and every time we got close, it’s fallen back down,” Burris told the court. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Today, I am hoping to say we’ve pushed this rock as far as we can … and it’s up to the city to push it [the rest of the way].”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s not about today, it’s about tomorrow,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brigid Martin, Oakland’s special counsel, said in response that the city “has absolute certainty about what will happen tomorrow, and then next day and the day after that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“NSA compliance is not a temporary obligation; it is the core of Oakland’s police operation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12061256\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251023-MAYOR-LEE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Beere, who was selected as Oakland Police Chief this year, speaks at a press conference at Oakland City Hall on Oct. 23, 2025 (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>Oakland Police Chief James Beere said that the department had to make “hard decisions” between completing investigations within a 180-day timeline and achieving the thoroughness required in complex cases.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The expectation for our investigation is not an excuse, but the expectations are not the same as they were twenty years ago,” Beere said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Orrick said that while missing the investigation timeline matters, he believes Beere and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee’s leadership will hold the department accountable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Today is not a ceiling, it’s a floor,” Warshaw said in court. “The city should see this not as the end of something, but as a new beginning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "oakland-police-could-finally-emerge-from-oversight-23-years-after-riders",
"title": "Oakland Police Could Finally Emerge From Oversight, 23 Years After ‘Riders’",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Police Could Finally Emerge From Oversight, 23 Years After ‘Riders’ | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-police-department\">Oakland’s police force\u003c/a> could emerge Tuesday from more than two decades of federal court oversight following a major brutality and corruption scandal in 2000.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At a long-awaited hearing, the city plans to argue that the Oakland Police Department is reformed and ask federal Judge William Orrick for full independence. But a monitoring report this month showing the department is failing to perform internal investigations quickly enough could leave it in limbo for longer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OPD has spent the last 23 years under a federally mandated consent decree following a class-action civil rights lawsuit brought by 119 residents. They alleged that a group of officers known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101891855/oakland-police-departments-brutality-corruption-and-cover-up-and-long-road-toward-reform\">the Riders\u003c/a> planted evidence and falsely arrested them, and engaged in intimidation, beatings, kidnapping and racial discrimination. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2003, the parties reached a settlement that required OPD to pay $11 million in restitution and implement 51 operational reforms related to the use of force, discipline, supervision, training and internal affairs investigations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12017328\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Oakland Police Department on Nov. 12, 2016. (Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>The Riders scandal sowed deep mistrust toward Oakland law enforcement, as OPD worked to reform its culture amid repeated \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/04/10/high-ranking-oakland-cops-including-deputy-chief-face-serious-discipline-for-allegedly-botching-investigation/\">missteps\u003c/a>, backsliding, a revolving door of police chiefs and multiple city administrations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After finally \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085228/oakland-police-judge-clears-path-for-possible-end-to-federal-oversight\">coming into compliance\u003c/a> with all 51 tasks in May, it appeared that OPD was on track to be released from oversight this week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is the first time in 23 years that OPD has achieved each of the 51 tasks in the [settlement agreement],” Orrick said during the spring hearing. “No one can say, ‘mission accomplished.’ But I do congratulate the city and OPD for getting this far.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But court-appointed monitor Robert S. Warshaw’s progress report earlier this month found that OPD had again fallen below the threshold for timely investigations into severe misconduct violations, threatening that decision. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The settlement requires that at least 85% of internal affairs investigations related to “the most serious allegations of misconduct” should be completed within 180 days of reporting. Between January and March of this year, 77 of 93, or 83%, of these investigations were completed in time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The timeliness of [Internal Affairs Bureau] investigations is an important issue in the [negotiated settlement agreement],” Warshaw wrote. “Members of the public, as well as sworn and non-sworn employees of the Department, are entitled to learn of the results of investigations that are overseen by the Internal Affairs Bureau.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In response to the report, Oakland’s Coalition for Police Accountability, a civilian-led advocacy group, submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4496116/1767/allen-v-city-of-oakland/\">letter\u003c/a> to Orrick, urging him not to release the department from oversight or add additional conditions to its decision. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Other cities have exited federal oversight only to back-slide,” the letter reads. “OPD did not bother to prioritize compliance at such a critical juncture; it seems naively optimistic to expect more energetic efforts if they are left to answer to no one.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the letter, the coalition accused the city of underfunding its police commission, an independent oversight body, which will assume responsibility for auditing OPD’s accountability to reforms if court oversight ends. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If OPD is released this week, the coalition argued, it should require that the city provide funding to fully staff the Office of the Inspector General, the police commission’s monitoring arm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The [negotiated settlement agreement] has been a 23-year project that represents an enormous amount of time and money for the City, and decades-long commitment by plaintiffs, and the Court,” the letter reads. “To terminate now, without necessary funding for independent civilian oversight, would jeopardize all that work.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The commission wrote in its \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.41858/gov.uscourts.cand.41858.1768.0.pdf\">own statement\u003c/a> to the court that they too believe their funding levels “do not provide the institutional resources the work demands.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, other activist groups have urged the court to end its oversight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12046794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Oakland Police Department Vehicle in Oakland on July 1, 2025. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>Safe Oakland, a coalition of Oakland civil rights, faith, business and neighborhood leaders, wrote its own letter expressing “strong support” for concluding the settlement agreement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For twenty-three years, a federal court has held Oakland to the standard of constitutional policing,” Safe Oakland wrote. “The time has come for Oakland to hold itself to that standard, and for the community to share in that responsibility. We stand ready to do our part.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Warshaw also expressed confidence in the city, despite the recent backslide: “Mayor [Barbara] Lee and her administration, as well as Chief [James] Beere, who is now the permanent Chief of Police, and OPD’s executive team, have worked diligently to foster a culture of accountability,” he wrote in his September report. “City leadership remains an imperative part of the sustainability process, and we are encouraged by the commitment of the Mayor and her team.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In their statement to the court, attorneys for the plaintiffs John Burris and James Chanin harshly criticized the department for falling behind in compliance, calling it “incomprehensible and bitterly disappointing that OPD is once again in this position.” However, they acknowledged a transformation of the department and strides made, and urged the court to end the settlement agreement in its current form. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They have asked the court to end their role in the case, and for Orrick and Warshaw to continue their oversight for one more year, without them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Burris told KQED that while personally, he hasn’t come to a conclusion about whether he thinks OPD should be released Tuesday, he’s hopeful that the city now has the right people in place to hold the department accountable without outside interference. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I will say this: At some point, the department has to run itself, and the city has to be responsible,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But court-appointed monitor Robert S. Warshaw’s progress report earlier this month found that OPD had again fallen below the threshold for timely investigations into severe misconduct violations, threatening that decision. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In response to the report, Oakland’s Coalition for Police Accountability, a civilian-led advocacy group, submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4496116/1767/allen-v-city-of-oakland/\">letter\u003c/a> to Orrick, urging him not to release the department from oversight or add additional conditions to its decision. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In response to the report, Oakland’s Coalition for Police Accountability, a civilian-led advocacy group, submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4496116/1767/allen-v-city-of-oakland/\">letter\u003c/a> to Orrick, urging him not to release the department from oversight or add additional conditions to its decision. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Other cities have exited federal oversight only to back-slide,” the letter reads. “OPD did not bother to prioritize compliance at such a critical juncture; it seems naively optimistic to expect more energetic efforts if they are left to answer to no one.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Other cities have exited federal oversight only to back-slide,” the letter reads. “OPD did not bother to prioritize compliance at such a critical juncture; it seems naively optimistic to expect more energetic efforts if they are left to answer to no one.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the letter, the coalition accused the city of underfunding its police commission, an independent oversight body, which will assume responsibility for auditing OPD’s accountability to reforms if court oversight ends. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the letter, the coalition accused the city of underfunding its police commission, an independent oversight body, which will assume responsibility for auditing OPD’s accountability to reforms if court oversight ends. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If OPD is released this week, the coalition argued, it should require that the city provide funding to fully staff the Office of the Inspector General, the police commission’s monitoring arm. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If OPD is released this week, the coalition argued, it should require that the city provide funding to fully staff the Office of the Inspector General, the police commission’s monitoring arm. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The [negotiated settlement agreement] has been a 23-year project that represents an enormous amount of time and money for the City, and decades-long commitment by plaintiffs, and the Court,” the letter reads. “To terminate now, without necessary funding for independent civilian oversight, would jeopardize all that work.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The [negotiated settlement agreement] has been a 23-year project that represents an enormous amount of time and money for the City, and decades-long commitment by plaintiffs, and the Court,” the letter reads. “To terminate now, without necessary funding for independent civilian oversight, would jeopardize all that work.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The commission wrote in its \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.41858/gov.uscourts.cand.41858.1768.0.pdf\">own statement\u003c/a> to the court that they too believe their funding levels “do not provide the institutional resources the work demands.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, other activist groups have urged the court to end its oversight. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Safe Oakland, a coalition of Oakland civil rights, faith, business and neighborhood leaders, wrote its own letter expressing “strong support” for concluding the settlement agreement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“For twenty-three years, a federal court has held Oakland to the standard of constitutional policing,” Safe Oakland wrote. “The time has come for Oakland to hold itself to that standard, and for the community to share in that responsibility. We stand ready to do our part.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Warshaw also expressed confidence in the city, despite the recent backslide: “Mayor [Barbara] Lee and her administration, as well as Chief [James] Beere, who is now the permanent Chief of Police, and OPD’s executive team, have worked diligently to foster a culture of accountability,” he wrote in his September report. “City leadership remains an imperative part of the sustainability process, and we are encouraged by the commitment of the Mayor and her team.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In their statement to the court, attorneys for the plaintiffs John Burris and James Chanin harshly criticized the department for falling behind in compliance, calling it “incomprehensible and bitterly disappointing that OPD is once again in this position.” However, they acknowledged a transformation of the department and strides made, and urged the court to end the settlement agreement in its current form. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In their statement to the court, attorneys for the plaintiffs John Burris and James Chanin harshly criticized the department for falling behind in compliance, calling it “incomprehensible and bitterly disappointing that OPD is once again in this position.” However, they acknowledged a transformation of the department and strides made, and urged the court to end the settlement agreement in its current form. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Burris told KQED that while personally, he hasn’t come to a conclusion about whether he thinks OPD should be released Tuesday, he’s hopeful that the city now has the right people in place to hold the department accountable without outside interference. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Burris told KQED that while personally, he hasn’t come to a conclusion about whether he thinks OPD should be released Tuesday, he’s hopeful that the city now has the right people in place to hold the department accountable without outside interference. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I will say this: At some point, the department has to run itself, and the city has to be responsible,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A federal judge will decide whether the Oakland law enforcement agency can come under local control again, after a recent setback on court-ordered reforms.",
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"title": "Oakland Police Could Finally Emerge From Oversight, 23 Years After ‘Riders’ | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-police-department\">Oakland’s police force\u003c/a> could emerge Tuesday from more than two decades of federal court oversight following a major brutality and corruption scandal in 2000.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At a long-awaited hearing, the city plans to argue that the Oakland Police Department is reformed and ask federal Judge William Orrick for full independence. But a monitoring report this month showing the department is failing to perform internal investigations quickly enough could leave it in limbo for longer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OPD has spent the last 23 years under a federally mandated consent decree following a class-action civil rights lawsuit brought by 119 residents. They alleged that a group of officers known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101891855/oakland-police-departments-brutality-corruption-and-cover-up-and-long-road-toward-reform\">the Riders\u003c/a> planted evidence and falsely arrested them, and engaged in intimidation, beatings, kidnapping and racial discrimination. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2003, the parties reached a settlement that required OPD to pay $11 million in restitution and implement 51 operational reforms related to the use of force, discipline, supervision, training and internal affairs investigations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12017328\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OaklandPoliceDepartment2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Oakland Police Department on Nov. 12, 2016. (Alex Emslie/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>The Riders scandal sowed deep mistrust toward Oakland law enforcement, as OPD worked to reform its culture amid repeated \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/04/10/high-ranking-oakland-cops-including-deputy-chief-face-serious-discipline-for-allegedly-botching-investigation/\">missteps\u003c/a>, backsliding, a revolving door of police chiefs and multiple city administrations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After finally \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085228/oakland-police-judge-clears-path-for-possible-end-to-federal-oversight\">coming into compliance\u003c/a> with all 51 tasks in May, it appeared that OPD was on track to be released from oversight this week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is the first time in 23 years that OPD has achieved each of the 51 tasks in the [settlement agreement],” Orrick said during the spring hearing. “No one can say, ‘mission accomplished.’ But I do congratulate the city and OPD for getting this far.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But court-appointed monitor Robert S. Warshaw’s progress report earlier this month found that OPD had again fallen below the threshold for timely investigations into severe misconduct violations, threatening that decision. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The settlement requires that at least 85% of internal affairs investigations related to “the most serious allegations of misconduct” should be completed within 180 days of reporting. Between January and March of this year, 77 of 93, or 83%, of these investigations were completed in time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The timeliness of [Internal Affairs Bureau] investigations is an important issue in the [negotiated settlement agreement],” Warshaw wrote. “Members of the public, as well as sworn and non-sworn employees of the Department, are entitled to learn of the results of investigations that are overseen by the Internal Affairs Bureau.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In response to the report, Oakland’s Coalition for Police Accountability, a civilian-led advocacy group, submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4496116/1767/allen-v-city-of-oakland/\">letter\u003c/a> to Orrick, urging him not to release the department from oversight or add additional conditions to its decision. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Other cities have exited federal oversight only to back-slide,” the letter reads. “OPD did not bother to prioritize compliance at such a critical juncture; it seems naively optimistic to expect more energetic efforts if they are left to answer to no one.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the letter, the coalition accused the city of underfunding its police commission, an independent oversight body, which will assume responsibility for auditing OPD’s accountability to reforms if court oversight ends. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If OPD is released this week, the coalition argued, it should require that the city provide funding to fully staff the Office of the Inspector General, the police commission’s monitoring arm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The [negotiated settlement agreement] has been a 23-year project that represents an enormous amount of time and money for the City, and decades-long commitment by plaintiffs, and the Court,” the letter reads. “To terminate now, without necessary funding for independent civilian oversight, would jeopardize all that work.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The commission wrote in its \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.41858/gov.uscourts.cand.41858.1768.0.pdf\">own statement\u003c/a> to the court that they too believe their funding levels “do not provide the institutional resources the work demands.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, other activist groups have urged the court to end its oversight. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12046794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-OAKLAND-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Oakland Police Department Vehicle in Oakland on July 1, 2025. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>Safe Oakland, a coalition of Oakland civil rights, faith, business and neighborhood leaders, wrote its own letter expressing “strong support” for concluding the settlement agreement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For twenty-three years, a federal court has held Oakland to the standard of constitutional policing,” Safe Oakland wrote. “The time has come for Oakland to hold itself to that standard, and for the community to share in that responsibility. We stand ready to do our part.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Warshaw also expressed confidence in the city, despite the recent backslide: “Mayor [Barbara] Lee and her administration, as well as Chief [James] Beere, who is now the permanent Chief of Police, and OPD’s executive team, have worked diligently to foster a culture of accountability,” he wrote in his September report. “City leadership remains an imperative part of the sustainability process, and we are encouraged by the commitment of the Mayor and her team.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In their statement to the court, attorneys for the plaintiffs John Burris and James Chanin harshly criticized the department for falling behind in compliance, calling it “incomprehensible and bitterly disappointing that OPD is once again in this position.” However, they acknowledged a transformation of the department and strides made, and urged the court to end the settlement agreement in its current form. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They have asked the court to end their role in the case, and for Orrick and Warshaw to continue their oversight for one more year, without them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Burris told KQED that while personally, he hasn’t come to a conclusion about whether he thinks OPD should be released Tuesday, he’s hopeful that the city now has the right people in place to hold the department accountable without outside interference. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I will say this: At some point, the department has to run itself, and the city has to be responsible,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "displaced-tenants-from-oakland-apartment-fire-say-they-lost-everything",
"title": "Displaced Tenants From Oakland Apartment Fire Say They Lost Everything",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>José Pabon and his wife were eating in their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/east-oakland\">East Oakland\u003c/a> apartment in the early hours of Friday morning when he said they heard a loud boom coming from down the hall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He ran out of their unit to look for the source of the noise, and said he found the hallway “already on fire.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We grabbed our daughter and ran out,” he told KQED in Spanish on Monday. “We started to yell because everything was already full of black smoke. People were yelling, and going out and asking for help.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just after midnight, flames quickly tore through the four-story apartment building on the 5100 block of Bancroft Avenue, displacing dozens of residents and causing significant damage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101638\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Fire Department firefighters rescued people on multiple floors of a three-alarm fire in an apartment building at 5142 Bancroft Ave. in East Oakland on Sept. 25, 2026. (Courtesy of the Oakland Fire Department via Facebook)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>According to fire chief Damon Covington, crews arrived at the scene of the three-alarm fire just after 12:30 a.m. to find “heavy smoke and fire from all four floors.” He said firefighters performed rescues on multiple levels. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In total, around 70 people occupying 19 of the building’s 21 units were evacuated, and four were transported to local medical centers with injuries.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city has set up a temporary shelter for tenants, and the Housing and Community Development Department is working with individuals and families to find longer-term shelter, according to spokesperson Sean Maher. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But many tenants who fled their apartments quickly now find themselves without their belongings or homes to return to. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pabon said he was able to go back into his unit with a firefighter to grab a few things — a cell phone, car keys and some documents, but the rest is lost. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I got out with only my pants, without shoes or anything,” said Alberto Martin, who was asleep in the apartment he shared with three roommates before the sound of an explosion woke him up early Friday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The fire was almost up to the windows,” he recalled Monday, on the verge of tears. “When we went to leave, the waves of fire were almost reaching us.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Parks and Recreation Department Supervisor Angelica Lopez said her department has been able to provide some clothing and basic essentials from emergency buckets that they keep at city recreation centers, and is working with partner organizations like St. Vincent DePaul to collect and distribute donations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since Friday, about 22 residents have been staying at the city’s temporary shelter, while some have opted to sleep in their cars and come in only for meals, and others have found their own places to stay, according to Lopez.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said the Red Cross was able to provide cots, and the center is serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Lopez said the shelter doesn’t yet have a closing date, and will remain available to all displaced tenants for the time being. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pabon and his wife, who are both delivery drivers, said they stayed home from work on Monday while they try to determine what comes next for their family.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re not in the headspace to work,” he said in Spanish. “We are worried because we do not know what is going to happen to us right now.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Martin, who usually works in construction, also planned to remain at the shelter so that he could attend a meeting with city officials, where he hoped to get more information about housing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Let’s see what God says, because here, one can’t say [what’s going to happen],” he told KQED in Spanish. “We don’t know who can help us.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The cause of the fire is under investigation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the fire started late Friday night – it has been updated to reflect that this incident occurred around midnight in the early hours of Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Pabon said he was able to go back into his unit with a firefighter to grab a few things — a cell phone, car keys and some documents, but the rest is lost. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I got out with only my pants, without shoes or anything,” said Alberto Martin, who was asleep in the apartment he shared with three roommates before the sound of an explosion woke him up early Friday. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since Friday, about 22 residents have been staying at the city’s temporary shelter, while some have opted to sleep in their cars and come in only for meals, and others have found their own places to stay, according to Lopez.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She said the Red Cross was able to provide cots, and the center is serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Lopez said the shelter doesn’t yet have a closing date, and will remain available to all displaced tenants for the time being. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re not in the headspace to work,” he said in Spanish. “We are worried because we do not know what is going to happen to us right now.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Martin, who usually works in construction, also planned to remain at the shelter so that he could attend a meeting with city officials, where he hoped to get more information about housing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the fire started late Friday night – it has been updated to reflect that this incident occurred around midnight in the early hours of Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Since Friday’s blaze, many tenants have either sought shelter at the Red Cross or in their cars, with the cause of the fire still under investigation.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>José Pabon and his wife were eating in their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/east-oakland\">East Oakland\u003c/a> apartment in the early hours of Friday morning when he said they heard a loud boom coming from down the hall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He ran out of their unit to look for the source of the noise, and said he found the hallway “already on fire.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We grabbed our daughter and ran out,” he told KQED in Spanish on Monday. “We started to yell because everything was already full of black smoke. People were yelling, and going out and asking for help.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just after midnight, flames quickly tore through the four-story apartment building on the 5100 block of Bancroft Avenue, displacing dozens of residents and causing significant damage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12101638\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260928-Oakland-Fire-Folo-02-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Oakland Fire Department firefighters rescued people on multiple floors of a three-alarm fire in an apartment building at 5142 Bancroft Ave. in East Oakland on Sept. 25, 2026. (Courtesy of the Oakland Fire Department via Facebook)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>According to fire chief Damon Covington, crews arrived at the scene of the three-alarm fire just after 12:30 a.m. to find “heavy smoke and fire from all four floors.” He said firefighters performed rescues on multiple levels. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In total, around 70 people occupying 19 of the building’s 21 units were evacuated, and four were transported to local medical centers with injuries.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The city has set up a temporary shelter for tenants, and the Housing and Community Development Department is working with individuals and families to find longer-term shelter, according to spokesperson Sean Maher. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But many tenants who fled their apartments quickly now find themselves without their belongings or homes to return to. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pabon said he was able to go back into his unit with a firefighter to grab a few things — a cell phone, car keys and some documents, but the rest is lost. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I got out with only my pants, without shoes or anything,” said Alberto Martin, who was asleep in the apartment he shared with three roommates before the sound of an explosion woke him up early Friday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The fire was almost up to the windows,” he recalled Monday, on the verge of tears. “When we went to leave, the waves of fire were almost reaching us.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Parks and Recreation Department Supervisor Angelica Lopez said her department has been able to provide some clothing and basic essentials from emergency buckets that they keep at city recreation centers, and is working with partner organizations like St. Vincent DePaul to collect and distribute donations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since Friday, about 22 residents have been staying at the city’s temporary shelter, while some have opted to sleep in their cars and come in only for meals, and others have found their own places to stay, according to Lopez.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said the Red Cross was able to provide cots, and the center is serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Lopez said the shelter doesn’t yet have a closing date, and will remain available to all displaced tenants for the time being. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pabon and his wife, who are both delivery drivers, said they stayed home from work on Monday while they try to determine what comes next for their family.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re not in the headspace to work,” he said in Spanish. “We are worried because we do not know what is going to happen to us right now.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Martin, who usually works in construction, also planned to remain at the shelter so that he could attend a meeting with city officials, where he hoped to get more information about housing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Let’s see what God says, because here, one can’t say [what’s going to happen],” he told KQED in Spanish. “We don’t know who can help us.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The cause of the fire is under investigation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the fire started late Friday night – it has been updated to reflect that this incident occurred around midnight in the early hours of Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
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