Embattled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao cries as she speaks for first time since FBI raid on her home

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao cried in a fiery speech on Monday as she spoke out for the first time since her home was raided by the FBI. 

Thao, 38, delivered an emotional statement to the press at Oakland City Hall as protestors gathered outside for a rally calling for her to step down. 

The embattled mayor insisted on her innocence and asserted that the investigation was not about her. She claimed to be the target of a campaign by 'radical right-wing forces' aiming to undermine her position.

'I want to be crystal clear. I have done nothing wrong. I can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me,' said Thao, as she wiped a tear from her eyes.

Thao also questioned how media outlets were prepared for the raid, suggesting a coordinated effort to shape the narrative against her. 

'I want to know how the TV cameras knew to show up on my sleepy residential street so early in the morning to capture footage of the raid. 

'And I want to know why Fox News and Breitbart were so prepared to fan the flames and to tell a story that they want to tell, to bend the facts to shape the narrative.' 

She also expressed her condolences for the victims of the recent Juneteenth gathering near Lake Merritt, where more than a dozen people were injured in a violent incident. 

Thao did not take questions after her brief address. 

Thao's home was raided by the FBI over pay-to-play allegations against her boyfriend, a former aide claims - with the worker also revealing a huge upset in the pair's relationship.

The Democrat lawmaker's home on Maiden Lane was searched around 5:30 am PT Thursday.

Renia Webb, who served as Thao's chief of staff for 18 months, says she's been interviewed by federal agents and believes they may be looking into her boyfriend Andre Jones.

Webb - who says she ran her office and her campaign - accuses Jones of classic pay-to-play corruption, including trying to lobby for jobs for Thao's donors and allies.

She says that Jones' behavior bordered on ridiculous, with a stunt where he tried to involve his ex-wife in Thao's swearing in ceremony as mayor being the last straw for Webb before she quit. That incident is said to have left Thao in tears.

'And then finally, I was like, 'Andre, I don't know what's wrong with you, but you got to get the hell out of here.' I was like, this is too much. I don't know what's going on. Sheng was crying. She was like, why would you do this to me on my day like this is crazy.'

Meanwhile, Webb said she had spoken to the FBI earlier this year as part of an investigation into what was going on in the office.

'The line of questioning I could tell that they had already been looking into, you know, some of their kind of pay-to-play type of activities,' she told ABC7.

Webb also says that she was asked about a family close to the mayor who were also raided this week.

Agents carried out searches about three miles to the south at two homes owned by members of the politically influential Duong family that owns the recycling company Cal Waste Solutions.

The firm has been investigated over campaign contributions to Thao and other elected city officials, the local news outlet Oaklandside reported in 2020.

One of the properties is owned by Andy Duong and the other is connected to David and Linda Duong, according to records cited by the Chronicle.

Andy Duong was one of the people Webb was questioned about by federal agents.