The FBI has reportedly been making inquiries about an alleged quid pro quo situation involving London Breed, Michael Bloomberg, and SF Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, and it sounds like Breed's former aide and confidante Conor Johnston may be coming back to haunt her.

Earlier this week, Conor Johnston, a close aide of former Mayor London Breed who went to bat during her last re-election campaign attacking rival Daniel Lurie, went public with an accusation about the late 2024 appointment of Stephen Sherrill to the Board of Supervisors. Johnston gave interviews to Mission Local and the SF Standard, and former aide and campaign manager Eric Kingsbury corroborated his statements, saying that Breed had been fairly explicit in saying that she was likely to appoint to Sherrill to fill the District 2 seat being vacated by Catherine Stefani as a favor to billionaire Michael Bloomberg, for whom Sherrill had worked.

According to Johnston, he warned Breed about how this may look, and that it was "potentially illegal," but she allegedly said at the time that she needed to think about her financial future, and that the Bloomberg organization was going to "set [her] up" after she left the mayor's office, adding "I have a lot of expenses."

Breed did ultimately get a six-month stint at a Bloomberg-funded think tank in DC last year, which she discussed in a New York Times interview in January. But she denies that anything untoward occurred.

"Yes, Mike Bloomberg is a friend, and he has been a thoughtful voice and mentor over the years, just as he has been for countless leaders and public servants across the country and the world," Breed said in a statement. "But that is the extent of it. I don’t work for Mayor Bloomberg. And I have always made my own decisions."

But now, as the SF Standard reported late Friday, the FBI has apparently come calling, which may have been part of Johnston's intention all along. He was explicit in saying he wanted voters to be aware that Sherrill, who is seeking now to be fully elected to the seat, may not have been appointed fully based on his qualifications. And, Johnston told Mission Local, Breed "broke my heart," and "in her last act in office" she "sold it out in the worst, most indefensible way to one of the richest men in the world."

The FBI has reportedly made inquiries about the situation to at least two individuals, likely Johnston and Kingbury, the Standard reports, but the substance of those inquiries was not shared. "It’s unclear how many people federal investigators have contacted or whether the FBI has opened a formal investigation," the Standard reports.

If there is an investigation, this would be yet another chance for the Trump Justice Department to come after a San Francisco politician — after a wide-ranging City Hall corruption investigation that began during the first Trump administration yielded indictments only for two department heads, Mohammed Nuru and Harlan Kelly, as well as multiple resignations and a slew of charges for city contractors and others.

Sherrill's campaign has responded fairly aggressively to the Standard story, issuing a statement saying, "If Trump’s Justice Department wants to attack Democrats and chase the lies of a disgruntled ex-staffer with an axe to grind, that says everything about them and nothing about Stephen." And they add that Sherrill's "record of delivering for District 2 speaks for itself, and he won’t be distracted from fighting for the constituents of District 2."

Both Johnston and Kingsbury admitted to Mission Local that they were each under consideration for the District 2 supervisor job, alongside Sherrill, and they said that they had waited so long to go public with the story because it was bound to look like "sour grapes" on their part.

Obviously things may get dicey for Breed, but arguments will continue to be made that Sherrill was chosen on the basis of his qualifications alone. An attorney, Bill Portanova, who has worked as both a state and federal prosecutor, told Mission Local that "It smells like someone planning their post-government career," but "there is plenty of room for a good defense attorney to argue that it’s something else entirely."

Johnston and Kingsbury going on the record this week follows an early February story published by the California Post that essentially made the same accusation, but was anonymously sourced.

This could get ugly. Buckle up.

Previously: Two Former Aides Suggest Quid Pro Quo In Breed's Appointment of Stephen Sherrill to Board of Supervisors

Top image: San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks on stage during Macy's 35th Annual Great Tree Lighting In San Francisco at Macy's Union Square on November 13, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Macy's)