Politics /

Sharika Soal: Mayor Sheng Thao Disappeared After Raid And Is Accused Of Allowing DEI Boyfriend To Call The Shots

  |   By Lou Dobbs Staff

 

The truth is finally coming out about Oakland, California, and Mayor Sheng Thao.

BREAKING: FBI Agents Raid Home of Democrat Mayor of Oakland

READ: https://t.co/0rQ9hOqUVF pic.twitter.com/B9S3UdUXh8

— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) June 20, 2024

After incumbent Libby Schaff’s term expired on November 8, 2022, Sheng Thao, a Democrat, was elected Mayor.

On January 20, 2023, Sheng Thao was sworn in as Mayor.

After the FBI raid on Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home Thursday, a former chief of staff said she thinks the Mayor should resign.

Renia Webb, former Mayor’s chief of staff and trusted advisor, speaks out about pay-to-play allegations despite the FBI not linking Thao to illegal activity.

Renia Webb

CBS News reports,

Webb worked closely with and had access to Thao that few people had for a year and four months. Webb served as Thao’s right hand person working as chief of staff when Thao was the District 4 councilmember.

Webb said she volunteered and spent countless hours on Thao’s mayoral campaign in 2022. She said she also led Thao’s transition team after Thao won the election.

“A lot of what’s coming out now is the reason I resigned shortly there after winning the election that we fought so hard to win,” said Webb.

She said was more sad than surprised about FBI agents raiding Thao’s home on Thursday.

“I wasn’t surprised. I was like, ‘Finally. Finally the truth is coming out,’” recalled Webb.

Webb accuses Thao’s boyfriend Andre Jones of being the mastermind and running pay-to-play schemes during Thao’s campaign for mayor and after she won.

“I had found out that Andre, her boyfriend, was promising people jobs in our administration, promising people appointments on different commissions and boards.” said Webb. “I definitely believe that, out of the mouth of the people that told me, they were promised positions, they were promised board positions. And [they would always say] Andre, you know? That’s who they would say, ‘Andre promised me this.’”

Andre Jones and Sheng Thao

 

According to Webb, Jones was in control and “calling the shots.” She said Thao followed his lead.

“It’s sad. He’s making her do things, pushing her to do things that I don’t believe she would do otherwise. I just really don’t,” said Webb.

Andre Jones and Mayor Sheng Thao – Flicker

Jones and Thao met while working for Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan. Jones was Kaplan’s chief of staff, and Thao was an intern.

“When I first mentioned to Sheng, at that house that got raided [on Thursday], that people were coming to me on what Andre had promised them,” explained Webb. “And her response to me was, ‘Just ignore Andre. You’re going to be making close to $200,000. Just ignore it.’ And it just hurt my heart. I just looked at her and told her ‘I don’t care about the money.’”

After Thao won the election in November, Webb said she resigned on New Year’s Eve 2022. She said in early 2023, she complained to the city council and the Public Ethics Commission about the pay-to-play allegation.

She said the council ignored her complaint. The ethics commission sent a follow-up email requesting evidence, but Webb could not produce physical evidence, so that complaint went nowhere.

No one is shocked: Thao, already facing a recall vote, is under heavy pressure following the recent raids. Even the Oakland chapter of the NAACP, a well-known left-wing group, is calling for her to step down. This emphasizes her failures as a leader and the overall disgust with how she handled proceedings.

When Conservatives said that DEI meant death to integrity in our government, this is what they meant.

Maybe we should stop calling everyone racist for not wanting thugs in control of a Mayor’s office just because they are not white.

The post Sharika Soal: Mayor Sheng Thao Disappeared After Raid And Is Accused Of Allowing DEI Boyfriend To Call The Shots appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.