Sheng Thao's Former Chief of Staff Testifies About Mayor's Odd Behavior, Ill-Fated Vietnam Trip

The chief of staff under several Oakland mayors, including former Mayor Sheng Thao, was the first witness called by the prosecution in the federal corruption trial of Thao, Andre Jones, David Duong, and Andy Duong.Opening statements kicked off the trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and three co-defendants Wednesday, and Thursday brought the first witnesses to the stand. As the Chronicle reports, that first witness for the prosecution was Leigh Hanson, who had a front-row seat to the alleged corruption and the relationships between Thao and Jones, and Thao and the Duongs.Hanson already revealed some damning moments of Thao s tenure as mayor in her first bits of testimony, per the Chronicle. Those included a recounting of a 2023 trip to Vietnam that has become one of the main touchpoint in the corruption narrative a trip Hanson said she warned Thao she should not be going on. Hanson reportedly testified that she told Thao it would be a pretty bad look for her in her first year as