Far-left Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao raged during a press conference this week after federal law enforcement agents raided her home.
More than a dozen agents entered the home late last week and removed a variety of items from the search, including paper boxes, clipboards, and large plastic tubs.
Several other properties were also raided during the investigation that were connected to a politically influential family that runs the city’s curbside recycling program.
“I want to be crystal clear: I have done nothing wrong,” she claimed in remarks to the media on Monday. “I can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me. I have not been charged with a crime, and I am confident that I will not be charged with a crime because I am innocent.”
She demanded to know “what probable cause the FBI” had when they searched her home even though the authorities are legally not allowed to show the affidavit that supports the warrant, according to former FBI special agent Stuart Kaplan.
“What evidence have they collected that justifies raiding the home of a sitting mayor without notice and without the courtesy of a conversation?” she asked. “I want to know more about the handful of billionaires from San Francisco and Piedmont who are hell-bent on running me out of 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.”
She then claimed that “radical right-wing forces” were trying to take over Oakland by having her ousted via a criminal investigation.
“I will not be bullied and I will not be disparaged and I will not be threatened out of this office,” she said.
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