The FBI appears to be making progress in whatever investigation resulted in the June raid of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home, as witnesses are being subpoenaed, but we still don’t know why the raid happened or who the FBI’s suspects are.

Yes it is unusual that a full five months after the FBI raided Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s house, we still have no idea why they did, and maybe nobody cares because she’s since been recalled from office anyway. But the still-secretive FBI probe may ensnare other East Bay elected officials, and it is notable that on the day they raided Thao’s home, the FBI also raided the offices of Oakland’s recycling contractor Cal Waste Solutions, and the homes of its politically well-connected CEO David Duong and his son Andy Duong.

The Chronicle has been on this beat pretty hard the last few days. On Monday, that paper reported that two witnesses had been issued federal grand jury subpoenas related to the probe. That’s presumably big news, except for the fact that we have no idea who the witnesses are. The Chronicle also adds that “it wasn’t immediately clear whether other witnesses had testified,” so there may be more than two witnesses.

The role of a federal grand jury is generally to decide whether there is evidence that a crime (or multiple crimes) were committed. The Chronicle also dangles the possibility that the existence of a grand jury "could indicate that officials are close to making an arrest.”

Sheng Thao herself has always insisted she was not a target of the FBI investigation, and that may be true. But it sure raised eyebrows when we learned in July that Thao’s boyfriend Andre Jones also had his phone seized by the FBI, and that Jones apparently had some outsize but very nebulous role in her administration. According to the Chronicle’s Monday reports, Jones’s attorney “said he has not heard from the FBI.”

But the Chronicle also had an exhaustive report in this weekend’s Sunday paper on documents related to the FBI investigation, noting the feds had issued subpoenas regarding another business venture of the Duong family. That venture was a “tiny homes” for the homeless project called Evolutionary Homes, and the Duongs’ business partner on that one was a very colorful character named Mario Juarez, who’s also been accused of funneling illegal campaign donations on behalf of the Duong family.  

The TLDR of that Sunday Chronicle piece is effectively that it found some things that might look shady, but that “None of the documents obtained by the Chronicle contain any evidence of wrongdoing.” Still, there are some intriguing and amusing tidbits in the mix.

Evolutionary Homes was angling to build these shipping container-type tiny homes at the now-decommissioned Oakland Army Base. That could have been a goldmine worth of local, state, and federal funding for Evolutionary Homes. A representative of the company (we don’t know who) wrote in a May 2023 email to Oakland city officials “Attached to this proposal is also a list of possible funding sources from Oakland’s emergency funds,”so there is a stated desire for money in what would have been a fat $90 million contract.

Thao apparently took two meetings with Evolutionary Homes in April and May that year. And the Chron found communications from Evolutionary Homes personnel telling city officials they “Would have to argue compliance” for the funding, and asking, “What portion could be acceptable for a homeless emergency?”

The whole Evolutionary Homes project fell apart, with Mario Juarez being accused of felony check fraud charges, and then he was apparently beaten up outside Cal Waste Solutions headquarters. It is fair to say he had a falling out of some sort with the Doung family.

Humorously, we have more evidence of this falling out as the Chronicle notes that Juarez’s personal website “began linking to” a mock Evolutionary Homes website called EvolutionaryHome.com. That unofficial site merely makes vague and unflattering allegations against Cal Waste Solutions CEO David Duong. Juarez has a knack for these “hit job” websites, as he started one against Alameda County DA Pamela Price.

Again, we do not know if Juarez, the Duongs, or Sheng Thao are targets of this FBI probe. But we do know that Mario Juarez is certainly the most entertaining figure in this scandal, whatever turns it may take.

Related: Sheng Thao Insists She Was Not a Target of FBI Raid in Fiery Chronicle Interview [SFist]

Image: OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 12: Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao speaks as Alameda County Councilmember David Haubert, and Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan look on at a press conference announcing the Oakland Roots will play their 2025 USL Championship home games at the Oakland Coliseum at the Oakland Coliseum on August 12, 2024 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Doug Zimmerman/ISI Photos/Getty Images)