Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee Returns Donations From Family Linked to Sheng Thao Scandal

Former Congresswoman and current Oakland Mayoral candidate Barbara Lee handed back $5,000 in donations on Monday given to her by Andy and David Duong, the recycling business owners who were recently indicted in the same scandal involving former Mayor Sheng Thao.

According to the allegations by the FBI, Thao and her partner Andre Jones made a deal with recycling business owners Andy and David Duong in 2022, shortly before the elections that year. According to the alleged deal, Thao would give the Duongs’ a city contract with their recycling business, Cal Waste Solutions, and purchase housing units from them on behalf of the city once elected. In exchange, Jones would get a $300,000 a year no-show job from them and Thao would have the Duongs’ fund a $75,000 mailer before the election. Thao and Jones are currently fighting bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud charges, with the Duong’s having those and an additional lying to federal prosecutors charge.

In November, Thao was successfully recalled and removed from office, paving the way to a special Mayoral election this year.

For years, the Duong family have been a major donor to several Oakland politicians. Since the indictments, the lawmakers have been abandoning them right and left to avoid any sort of connection. But, those donations they gave will forever be recorded down thanks to campaign finance laws. And one such person they gave to for many years was down there as well: Barbara Lee.

According to campaign finance records, Lee received $66,250 from the Duong family from the time of her first Congressional election in 1998 to last year’s Senate primary in which she lost and placed in a distant 4th place. The records show that the Duong’s often gave the maximum amount allowed, with her 2024 Senate campaign receiving $5,000. It is currently unknown if the Duong’s gave Lee any money for her Mayoral run this year, although it is unlikely. Lee only entered the race last month, with the special election happening in only two months time. However, with recent campaign finance records not available, it isn’t known for sure if she received anything from them this year.

Duong donations

For Lee, taking donations shows no guilt or ties to the scandal. As the federal investigation looked into pretty much everyone tied to the Duong family, which is how Thao was found out, Lee has been essentially cleared and did nothing more than take donations from people she thought were on the up and up. Still, with public anger over what Thao and the Duong’s allegedly did still boiling over, and Lee desperate to get a victory after giving up her Congressional seat to become Senator only to be trounced in the primary, having taken money from such a controversial figure isn’t a good look. Especially when the city is still reeling from the recall and scandal.

Needing to distance herself, Lee’s campaign denounced the scandal over the weekend and added that the $5,000 donated to her Senate campaign last year would be given to Meals on Wheels.

“Barbara Lee has zero tolerance for any pay to play or special interest influence, has denounced these disturbing allegations, and has never been involved in any City vendor selection or contract issuance — and she fully supports strengthening City ethics practices,” said Lee campaign spokesperson Bilen Mesfin. “As her final congressional term has reached its natural conclusion, her previous congressional accounts are now closed. As for the $5000 donated to her senate campaign in 2023, Barbara Lee is donating that to Meals on Wheels.”

While she hopes that this ends talk about any ties between her and the scandal, it may still come back to bite her in the next few months in the lead up to the election.

“Even though she donated it, being associated with people like that is never a good look,” Alameda County pollster Nathan Martin told the Globe on Monday. “The court battle is going to remain in the public eye for awhile. So the fact that she got money from them in the first place, well, people might hold it against her. She’s expected to win pretty easily, but things like this may not make it so easy. Especially the question of what she will do with the $60 grand or so of past donations she got.”