Testimony in the corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is scheduled to resume Monday morning.
Thao is on trial on allegations she offered future contracts with a waste recycling company in exchange that the men behind that company help her get elected mayor.
Monday will mark the second day of testimony in the trial.
Defense attorneys are expected to continue their cross-examination of Thao’s former chief of staff, Leigh Hanson. Some of the questioning of Hanson has centered around a trip Thao took to Vietnam in 2023, soon after taking office. Hanson said Thao believed the Port of Oakland covered her expenses, but prosecutors argued the majority of that trip was covered by co-defendants, David and Andy Duong, who own California Waste Solutions, which is Oakland’s recycling contractor.
Hanson said she had tried to dissuade Thao from taking the trip because of the bad optics of a new mayor traveling to Asia while the city was facing serious budget issues.
During cross-examination last week, Hanson testified that Thao did not intervene to put people in power who prosecutors allege had been backed by the Duongs.
Thao, her longtime boyfriend Andre Jones, and the Duongs have been indicted on charges of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, during a scheduled news conference outside federal court Monday morning, the leaders behind the recall effort of Thao will not only ask for the end of no-bid contracts, but demand, in their words, accountability for corruption and an end to the political machine controlling Oakland City Hall.
