Former Oakland Mayor’s Day in Court 
Sheng Thao
JP Yim/Getty Images for The Asian American Foundation
Oakland’s former Mayor Sheng Thao’s trial starts today over her alleged sweeping bribery scheme with the city’s recycling contractor.
I’m Isaiah Poritz, a California courts reporter covering the trial in Oakland federal court. I’ll watch as prosecutors argue that Thao committed fraud and conspired to commit bribery by trading city contracts and other purchases for a $300,000, no-show job for her partner and political mailers related to her campaign.
The trial brings back to the forefront a dark period for the East Bay city after the Covid-19 pandemic, when Thao was the subject …