Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's chief of communications resigns following FBI raid
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Francis Zamora, the chief of communications for Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, tells ABC7 that he resigned his position in the wake of the FBI raid on the mayor's house.
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Zamora has been in the position for nine months, and there's no information directly from him about his reasons for resigning.
He released the following statement to ABC7: "I resigned my position as Chief of Communications. I thank my colleagues for their professionalism and dedication. It was an honor to serve the City of Oakland beside them."
This comes one day after noted attorney and former federal prosecutor Tony Brass resigned as Thao's counsel, saying he will no longer represent her just hours after she held a news conference on Monday. He told the ABC7 I-Team's Dan Noyes he had no idea Thao was going to give that speech and that he would not have approved of the angry tone and conspiracy content.
During the press conference, Mayor Thao refused calls for her resignation and proclaimed her innocence.
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This adds to the deepening turmoil surrounding the mayor, whose home was raided by the FBI last week, along with those associated with the Duong family, owners of the city's recycling contractor, California Waste Solutions.
While the FBI didn't say what type of investigation the raids were linked too, Thao, two members of Duong family and Cal Waste are all under investigation by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, which is looking into alleged illegal campaign finance contributions.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
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