After FBI raid, defiant Oakland mayor says she did nothing wrong and will not resign

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH CONTENT BY By Carlos Castañeda FROM CBS NEWS BAY AREA.

Francis Zamora, the chief spokesman for Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, has resigned a day after the embattled mayor’s attorney stepped down.

Zamora said in a prepared statement issued Tuesday, “I resigned my position as Chief of Communications. I thank my colleagues for their professionalism and dedication. It was an honor to serve the City of Oakland beside them.”

“Francis was a valuable member of the team whose contributions are greatly valued and appreciated,” said Thao in a prepared statement. “I thank him for his service and wish him well.”

There was no reason given for Zamora’s sudden departure.

Zamora stepped down a day after Tony Brass withdrew as Thao’s attorney Monday, just hours following Thao’s defiant and emotional press conference where she denied any wrongdoing in the wake of the FBI raid on her home last week.

Brass told CBS News Bay Area that he did not know Thao was going to speak to the press on Monday and would have advised her not to, adding that he decided to no longer represent Thao because of their differing approaches to her case.

“I want to be crystal clear. I have done nothing wrong,” said Thao on Monday. “I can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me.”

During Monday’s press conference, Thao blasted the FBI raid on her home and seemingly linked the raid with the effort to recall her from office.

“I want to know why the day following the qualification of a recall election, funded by some of the richest people in the Bay Area, seemed like the right day to execute a warrant,” said Thao, at times fighting back tears.

Federal agents also raided two other homes owned by David Duong and his son, Andrew Duong, as well as offices shared by the Vietnamese American Business Association (VABA) and California Waste Solutions which manages the city’s curbside recycling program.

David Duong is also listed as the chairman of VABA and the CEO of California Waste Solutions; the politically influential Duong family has multiple family members on the leadership teams of both organizations.

Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission and the state Fair Political Practices Commission have been investigating campaign donations by California Waste Solutions to public officials and candidates and claims of using “straw donors” to hide the source of funds.

No one has been charged with any wrongdoing and federal authorities have not released any details about the raids or who is the subject of the investigation.

Thao’s former chief of staff Renia Webb called for Thao to resign, accusing Thao of being involved in a pay-to-play scheme and telling CBS News Bay Area that she reported her allegation to the city council and the Public Ethics Commission, but her claims were ignored.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — In her first public remarks since federal authorities raided her home last week, a defiant and furious mayor of Oakland, California, said she did not do anything wrong and she has no plans to resign from office.

Mayor Sheng Thao read from a prepared statement and took no questions Monday, four days after FBI agents carried boxes out of the home she shares with her son and partner as part of an investigation that included searches of two other houses owned by another family.

Thao said the timing of the very public raid was suspicious as it came days after backers of a mayoral recall were informed by the city clerk that they had collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, likely in November. Backers of the recall say public safety and economic vitality have worsened under the politically progressive mayor, and that she should not have fired Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong.

The city desperately needs “active, engaged and competent leadership” in this trying time, wrote Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland chapter of the NAACP in an emailed statement.

“It is telling that no other city officials have defended the mayor, nor do any of them even seem to be in contact with her,” she said.

It appears Thao and her son were home Thursday morning during the raid. She said her first priority was to make sure they were safe.

Thao, 38, took office in 2023. She is of Hmong descent and says she grew up poor.

“And when my parents came to this country fleeing genocide, they never could have imagined that their daughter would one day be mayor of Oakland. I am my ancestors’ wildest dream,” she said. “And I am your mayor: Mayor Sheng Thao.”

Agents also searched two homes owned by members of the politically influential Duong family that owns the recycling company Cal Waste Solutions. The firm has been investigated over campaign contributions to Thao and other elected city officials, the local news outlet Oaklandside reported in 2020.