![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/large-Thao-Courthouse_EG_08.jpg\")
Sheng Thao\u2019s former romantic partner, Andre Jones, center, leaving the Federal courthouse on Clay Street in Oakland on Feb. 6, 2025. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside. <\/p>\nSheng Thao\u2019s former chief of staff, Leigh Hanson, was questioned for several hours on the stand today about what she saw inside the former Oakland mayor\u2019s administration the year and a half before the FBI raided Thao\u2019s home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hanson generally kept her cool throughout the hearing \u2014 the third day of trial \u2014 sharing concerns and praise for Thao\u2019s style of leadership. Thao looked on with a neutral expression from the defense table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very impressed,\u201d said Hanson about her early evaluation of her boss. \u201cI thought she was very accomplished given the stage in her career\u2026She was very values-driven, and made a lot of decisions based on her personal experience. And I thought she was a good leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some of the mayor\u2019s actions didn\u2019t sit well with her, Hanson said. Most focused on the role of other defendants in the federal case, where Thao, her former partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong are accused of participating in a pay-to-play bribery scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedeman asked Hanson about communication records and meeting schedules, suggesting Thao gave special treatment to Jones, as well as to companies owned by the Duongs and staff members favored by them.<\/p>\n
During cross-examination, defense attorneys sought to show that Thao interacted with many advisors, potential contractors, and community members during her time in office. Those associated with the other defendants, their line of questioning implied, were not given special treatment.<\/p>\n
In the audience, a throng of City Hall observers gathered to watch the proceedings. Among them was Loren Taylor, Thao\u2019s main opponent in the 2022 election, who lost to her by nearly seven hundred votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hanson will return to the stand Monday to finish cross-examination.<\/p>\n
Andre Jones sat in on sensitive city meetings <\/p>\n
Sheng Thao\u2019s former romantic partner, Andre Jones, center, leaving the Federal courthouse on Clay Street in Oakland on Feb. 6, 2025. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside. <\/p>\n
Jones, Thao\u2019s romantic partner at the time, didn\u2019t have an official role in the mayor\u2019s office but was occasionally included in the operations and decision-making, according to Hanson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three days into her tenure working for Thao, Hanson was interviewing a candidate for a housing policy role in the mayor\u2019s office, on Zoom, when Jones, who wasn\u2019t invited, logged in to listen. Hanson said she told Thao she was frustrated, and they weren\u2019t able to hire the qualified candidate.<\/p>\n
At another point, Hanson walked out of a sensitive meeting between the city attorney and the mayor about the implications of putting then Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong on leave<\/a> while he was investigated for misconduct. She was concerned to see Jones there because the presence of a non-city employee meant the discussion wasn\u2019t protected by attorney-client privilege.<\/p>\n After Hanson said that it was inappropriate for Jones to be in the meeting, he allegedly told her, \u201cWe\u2019ll see which one of us is left at the end of the day.\u201d Hanson said she interpreted this as a threat to her job.<\/p>\n The former chief of staff explained that Thao trusted Jones\u2019 opinions and considered him a political advisor.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe said he was experienced in City Hall,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Jones had worked years earlier as chief of staff for Rebecca Kaplan, when Kaplan held the at-large council seat. That\u2019s where he met Thao, who was an intern at the time.<\/p>\n During cross-examination, Darryl Tarver, one of Thao\u2019s defense attorneys, brought up a number of other people who provided informal advice to Thao, ranging from then-firefighter union president Zac Unger (who\u2019s now a councilmember) to developer Michael Ghielmetti and local pastors. He said Unger helped interview or screen Hanson before she was hired.<\/p>\n The implication: Jones was just one of many trusted advisors who didn\u2019t work for the city but had the mayor\u2019s ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n Did Thao push for Larry Gallegos\u2019 appointment to a high-level position in Oakland\u2019s housing department? <\/p>\n Prosecutors focused many of their questions for Hanson on Larry Gallegos\u2019 role in City Hall. The government alleges Thao appointed Gallegos to a high-up position in the housing department at the Duongs\u2019 request.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hanson recalled conversations with Thao about appointing Gallegos, then a staffer in Oakland\u2019s Economic and Workforce Development Department, or EWDD, to a top position. Thao wanted more Spanish-speaking people in leadership, to better reflect Oakland\u2019s diversity, Hanson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thao floated the idea of a director role in the city\u2019s housing department, according to Hanson. But the chief of staff suggested promoting him within EWDD instead, believing his skills were better suited for the department he already had experience in. Thao conceded, according to Hanson.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought she and I had come to an agreement,\u201d Hanson said. But shortly thereafter, Harold Duffey, then the interim city administrator, told Hanson that Thao still wanted him placed in the housing department. That\u2019s where he ended up being hired, though as interim deputy director, not the head.<\/p>\n Prosecutors claim that Mario Juarez, the government\u2019s key informant, secretly lobbied for Gallegos\u2019 role in the department. One of the political favors that Thao allegedly promised the Duongs was that Oakland would buy housing units from Evolutionary Homes, the company that Juarez ran with the Duong family.<\/p>\n On cross-examination, Mark Goldrosen, one of Jones\u2019 defense lawyers, had Hanson confirm that Gallegos later applied for the permanent deputy role, but wasn\u2019t hired, returning to a job in EWD.<\/p>\n Gallegos ended up leaving his job<\/a> with Oakland on Jan. 17, 2025, the same day the indictment against Thao and the other defendants was unsealed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers took a moment at the end of the hearing to correct Goldrosen\u2019s pronunciation of Gallegos\u2019 name, which he has been getting wrong since Wednesday. The judge looked to the defense table to confirm that the name is pronounced the standard way, not the attorney\u2019s. Thao gave a rare reaction: a thumbs-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hanson was worried about potential blowback from Vietnam trip<\/p>\n In the summer of 2023, all four defendants, along with a delegation of city and Port of Oakland officials and other local leaders, traveled to Vietnam to explore economic trade and partnership. Bryan Azevedo, the San Leandro councilmember who\u2019s pleaded guilty<\/a> to accepting bribes from the Duongs, was also present.<\/p>\n The idea for the Vietnam trip<\/a> first came up when Thao, Jones, David Duong, and Hanson had lunch with a group of visiting Vietnamese dignitaries during the mayor\u2019s first week in office. According to Hanson, a woman named Teresa Hoang told her she was eager to plan a trade delegation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hoang worked at the Vietnamese American Business Association<\/a>, VABA, a business group run by the Duong family.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hanson has misgivings about the trip. \u201cThe public is pretty unforgiving if mayors are not present, especially in the first year,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hanson believed that Thao understood her concerns, but said the mayor still moved forward with the trip because she wanted to get a start on developing the international economic relationship. The discussions got heated, and Hanson said that at one point Thao \u201cshared that if I wasn\u2019t able to execute as her chief of staff, that it might not be the right role for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n While VABA would pay for other city employees and attendees, the mayor\u2019s trip was covered by the Port of Oakland. Thao invited Gallegos, Hanson said.<\/p>\n After the trip, Hanson recalled the mayor\u2019s communications director, Francis Zamora, telling her a journalist had inquired about allegations that members of the delegation had possibly engaged in \u201csex trafficking of minors\u201d while abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thao was extremely upset, Hanson said, because she had experienced something related in the past and had prioritized addressing sexual harm to young women while in office. She was particularly angry with Andy.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said, \u2018I hate that fucking playboy. He\u2019s always been trouble; he\u2019s going to ruin my career,\u2019\u201d said Hanson.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s team came up with a \u201ccrisis communications\u201d plan, but the story never came out. This summer, reporter Steven Tavares of East Bay Insiders revealed<\/a> in his publication that he\u2019d looked into the rumors swirling around the Vietnam trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n Around this time, the co-host of his podcast, Shawn Wilson, a staffer in county Supervisor David Haubert\u2019s office, came to Tavares. He relayed a sponsorship offer from California Waste Solutions, the Duongs\u2019 company, according to the reporter. Wilson was also a paid consultant for the Duongs. Tavares said it later became clear to him that the offer, which he didn\u2019t accept, was meant to squash the story about the Vietnam misconduct.<\/p>\n Tavares was present in court today.<\/p>\n Thao had no power \u2014 or desire \u2014 to award a contract to Evolutionary Homes, defendants attempt to show<\/p>\n In response to questions, Hanson said Thao had wanted her team to look into options for temporary housing measures and land where the city could set up homeless services. Formerly unhoused herself, Thao had been passionate about identifying high-quality solutions for Oakland, Hanson said. Evolutionary Homes was one of the companies they looked at, Hanson said.<\/p>\n Prosecutors presented records today showing that Hanson and Thao met with a representative of Evolutionary Homes, Cesley Frost, in May 2023. Frost, who is also a staff member of county Supervisor Lena Tam\u2019s office, gave them a presentation on their tiny homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thao didn\u2019t mention that Evolutionary Homes was a Duong company, Hanson said, or anything about Jones having a job there. One of the government\u2019s central allegations is that Jones was paid $95,000 for a \u201cno-show job\u201d at the company.<\/p>\n Later, City Administrator Jestin Johnson also mentioned to Hanson that he\u2019d toured the company\u2019s tiny homes. In an email, she urged Johnson to be \u201cthoughtful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In court, Hanson said Oakland\u2019s lack of resources for new shelters concerned her, but she was worried about her boss engaging further with the Duong family given unflattering news about their campaign contributions. She was likely referring to an investigation by the city of Oakland into allegations that the Duongs illegally funneled cash<\/a> to councilmembers\u2019 reelection committees through straw donors.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_2216-1600x1200.jpg\")
Sheng Thao arrives at the federal courthouse for the first day of the trial against her, Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong. Credit: Eli Wolfe\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/large-ShengThao_USFEDCourt_March5-9.jpg\")
Andy Duong walks towards the United States Federal Court House in Oakland on March 5, 2026. Credit: Richard H. Grant for The Oaklandside. <\/p>\n