An attorney for Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao released a statement Friday criticizing the timing of the recent FBI search at her home and its impact on the recall push against her.
Attorney Jeff Tsai said he is confident Thao is not the target of the ongoing investigation.
"She has followed applicable campaign finance rules and regulations, and any suggestion of unlawful conduct by the Mayor is not based on fact or evidence," part of the statement read.
Last month, the FBI searched the house where Thao lives in with her partner Andre Jones.
Thao has not been charged with any crimes and has denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
Read Tsai's full statement below:
"The search warrant executed at the home of Mayor Thao and her partner Andre Jones is not criminal charges. But the Justice Department’s dramatic step – without any public explanation or justification – just months before a major recall election has now unquestionably affected the election and unfairly influenced the decision voters will have this November. The Justice Department’s own internal principles of federal prosecutions specifically warn prosecutors against undertaking investigations, or selecting the timing of investigative steps, to affect an election or otherwise influence a candidate or campaign. Through its actions here, though, the Justice Department has done that very thing – it has made itself an improper central feature in November’s election.
I am confident that the Mayor is not, and will not be, a target of whatever investigation the government is conducting. She has followed applicable campaign finance rules and regulations, and any suggestion of unlawful conduct by the Mayor is not based on fact or evidence."
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