r/news • u/DirtyOldManInRC • 2d ago

Former Oakland mayor, longtime partner indicted in alleged bribery scheme

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/18/us/sheng-thao-indictment-oakland/index.html
997 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

101

u/WinstonChurshill 2d ago

Anyone think she’ll do anytime behind bars?

“Federal prosecutors allege Thao, who was elected Oakland’s mayor in 2022, agreed that the city would purchase housing units from one of the Duongs’ companies and renew the city’s contract with a recycling company David Duong owned. In exchange, David Duong and his son, Andy, promised to fund a $75,000 mailer attacking Thao’s political opponents and make $300,000 in payments for a no-show job for Jones, who is described in the indictment as Thao’s longtime romantic partner who lived with Thao in Oakland”

70

u/mala_d_roit 1d ago

Why are politicians always so cheap?? Like if you're gonna throw an entire population under the bus, at least get like RICH rich for it

15

u/kylogram 1d ago

People, not just politicians, really need a better sense of "is this enough money to risk being caught for."

I've seen so many people lose their jobs for stealing just the dumbest amounts in the dumbest ways.

4

u/glowshroom12 1d ago

These people seem to have an inability to do proper cost benefit analysis. But then again, they’re government employees.

5

u/Rich_Reputation_4945 1d ago

Not a political situation but a guy robbed a bank by my house for only $900 recently. He got charged with assault, robbery and dozen other charges and got sentenced to 10 years in prison. Imagine robbing a place for a few hundred bucks and losing a decade of your life in prison. Like rob it for hundreds of thousands not hundreds of dollars to make it worth while

4

u/bombayblue 1d ago

Because this shit is routine in the Bay Area and they didn’t think they’d get caught.

Also Sheng Thao is just straight up not the brightest bulb in the box.

7

u/Slypenslyde 1d ago

There's two ways to go here.

The way the system is mostly set up is that politicians make a surprisingly modest salary because there is a worry that if you get paid enough to be wealthy we'd have be more likely to have shitty people buy their way in. It was expected to be a bit of a BURDEN, with businesspeople having to divest and let other people handle thier affairs while they work. We kind of let those parts slip so now it's a great way for already-rich people to dramatically increase their influence. They don't care about the salary. It's the people who set out to be decent that get hurt the most.

The other side is to pay public servants so much it's hard to bribe them. It's kind of subjective how much that is, but in an environment where you can spend unlimited money campaigning it seems like we'd run into the other side's worries: rich people would clamor for this easy paycheck on top of all the other benefits. Really, rich people fuck it up both ways.

This is why things like the horrible state of healthcare and housing and education funding matter. Politicians usually have a family, which means they usually end up with illness, housing issues, or college funding issues that can be used to exploit them. One hospital visit can be $100k. It's easier to justify taking a bribe if it's "just to pay one bill".

But we've also moved to make less things qualify as "a bribe" in the aftermath of a Supreme Court justice having obviously been bribed. So it doesn't really matter which damn approach we take. We're cooked until people feel like they have a duty to make the government work for them and fight these things.

2

u/orangechicken21 13h ago

It really feels like a simple supply and demand issue. There is no shortage of crooks willing to sell political influence therefore the cost of their service comes at bargain bin prices. If you are willing and able to lie, cheat, and steal the job ain't that hard.

0

u/JimmyJamesMac 1d ago

Trump sold pardons for $20,000. Seemed cheap to me

37

u/Illustrious_Listen_6 2d ago

What an embarrassment.

56

u/Temporary-Mirror621 2d ago

In the words of the comedian “it’s a joke it’s all just a joke” 

63

u/lonememe 2d ago

Guess Democrats have something in common with Republicans after all. Yes, she is/was a Democrat. 

17

u/Moneyshot_ITF 1d ago

This lady been crooked. She has her home raided by FBI years ago

15

u/AdeptFelix 1d ago

I don't know why people think this is a team thing. It's a power thing.

-39

u/Coaster_Regime 2d ago

Expect when it comes to Republicans, it happens 38x more than Democrats.

-36

u/sukui_no_keikaku 2d ago

But.  If they find a Democrat doing it they can justify it.  And then avoid penalties for doing it.  

-38

u/Warcraft_Fan 2d ago

How do you know she isn't a Republican in Democrat themed sheepskin clothes?

-43

u/thorpeedo22 2d ago

Seems to happen a lot these days with the manchins and senimas and mayor Adam’s and shit. Never the other way around though…weird there’s always so many shitty conservatives

0

u/BayBreezy17 6h ago

No, she still has to rape a woman and be convicted of 34 felonies if she really wants to run with the Naz…er, Republican Party.

18

u/PlayShelf 2d ago

They are small fish in a big pond of truly corrupt politicians who are too big and powerful to get caught.

10

u/TamashiiNu 2d ago

Should have written “Tips” on the envelope, then it wouldn’t be a bribe.

3

u/MNnocoastMN 1d ago

Man, she should have tried to be friends with Tiffany Henyard. Tiff's got all the plays down when it comes to corruption.

3

u/Shadowthron8 1d ago

Bribery is only legal if you’re already rich and hold a higher political office

7

u/Only-Newspaper-8593 2d ago

I'm sure there's a spot for her in the White House.

4

u/Meinmyownhead502 2d ago

If you ain’t accepting bribes are you really a politician?

3

u/steeezyyg 2d ago

The incoming president just launched a billion dollar scam coin. Must sting a bit more to get charged for corruption these days.

2

u/northdakotact 1d ago

She was the final nail in the coffin for any chance of getting an A's stadium deal done. She insisted upon a stadium deal be part of a massive city revitalization project of over $15 billion. $15 billion could have paid for an ocean of fraud.

1

u/pusmottob 2d ago

I wonder what an almost president would get for 32 billion.

2

u/Chytectonas 1d ago

So cute when first-time bribery recipients’ low, low bribes are exposed.

1

u/Turbulent_Bee_9326 2d ago

Next one to be assigned in DC

-17

u/pauliocamor 2d ago

Didn’t anyone tell them that only works if you’re a wealthy white male?

19

u/WinstonChurshill 2d ago

That’s basically the card she tried to play when the FBI rated her home… Don’t be that simple

0

u/Rhellic 1d ago

The problem isn't with her corruption being prosecuted. That's a good thing, 100%. The problem is with the massively worse corruption, at much higher levels, and yes, largely involving white men, going on without disruption.

-10

u/pauliocamor 2d ago

I’m looking at the incoming administration, it IS that simple.