FBI raids and a recycling firm: how a promising US mayor wound up at the center of a bribery scandal

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As Oakland residents watch ex-mayor Sheng Thao stand trial, the scandal has come to symbolise wider frustrationsTwo years ago, residents of Oakland, California, woke up to a…

As Oakland residents watch ex-mayor Sheng Thao stand trial, the scandal has come to symbolise wider frustrations

Two years ago, residents of Oakland, California, woke up to a shocking scene: their mayor’s home was being raided by the FBI. Agents were seen carrying dozens of boxes from the hilltop home of Sheng Thao, the city’s 38-year-old leader, as part of an investigation constituents would later learn alleged her participation in a pay-to-play scheme with the city’s recycling contractor.

It was a stunning moment for Thao, who was elected to lead the Bay Area city in 2022 and was once seen as a promising young mayor in a city that has long grappled with economic inequality and a reputation for violent crime. Her story of growing up in a refugee family and overcoming domestic violence and homelessness to become the first person of Hmong descent to run a major US city resonated with readers confronting questions about equity and representation that came to the fore during the Covid-19 pandemic, and made her the subject of glowing media profiles.

As mayor, Thao revived the city’s Ceasefire violence-reduction strategy and brought in a much-needed infusion of revenue through the sale of the Oakland Coliseum sports complex. But her tenure was far from smooth. At the time of the raid she was already facing a heated recall campaign grounded in her perceived failure to address the city’s mounting public safety and homelessness crises – one that would see her ousted from office in November 2024. Two months later, Thao was indicted on federal corruption charges, and eventually replaced by longtime progressive congresswoman Barbara Lee in a special election.

Now, Oakland is anxiously watching the final chapter in this political drama unfold as Thao and three co-defendents stand trial over the alleged bribery scheme. Having just concluded its fifth week of hearings, the case is rich with soap-opera-esque plot points, from an alleged beating at a recycling company’s headquarters…

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