California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta spent almost half one million {dollars} in marketing campaign funds final 12 months on private attorneys to signify him as he spoke to federal investigators about alleged corruption in Oakland.
Bonta paid about $468,000 to regulation agency Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati final 12 months from his 2026 reelection marketing campaign, in accordance with marketing campaign finance disclosures filed with the state.
Bonta political advisor Dan Newman mentioned the legal professional basic was approached by federal investigators as a result of he was considered as a “potential sufferer” within the alleged corruption case involving a former Oakland mayor and Bay Space enterprise house owners.
Newman mentioned “the only real function was to help by offering info that might be useful to the investigation.”
“This was all accomplished in 2024, over a 12 months in the past, and the AG’s involvement is over,” Newman mentioned.
Bonta’s funds to the authorized staff have been first reported by Sacramento’s KCRA-TV.
The U.S. Division of Justice in January charged former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in an alleged bribery scheme involving native businesspeople David Trung Duong and Andy Hung Duong.
Thao ran for Oakland mayor in 2022 and was recalled from workplace by metropolis voters in 2024 after rising voter frustration over crime and the town’s funds woes. She was arrested in early 2025 by the FBI.
In response to the indictment, Thao, then a mayoral candidate, engaged in a quid professional quo scheme with the Duong brothers through which she promised to take official actions because the mayor to assist their recycling and modular properties companies.
The Duong brothers and Thao have pleaded not responsible.
The San Jose Mercury Information reported in January 2025 that marketing campaign finance regulators had additionally been carefully scrutinizing Andy Duong. The Duong household considered Bonta as a political ally, in accordance with the newspaper.
Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 chosen Bonta, then an Meeting member representing the Oakland space, because the legal professional basic to serve the remaining time period of Xavier Becerra, whom President Biden nominated to develop into the U.S. Well being and Human Providers secretary.
Bonta has emerged as a key participant in California’s battle in opposition to President Trump, submitting dozens of lawsuits in opposition to the Trump administration.
Bonta finally returned $155,000 in marketing campaign contributions from the Duong household after the federal investigation grew to become public, in accordance with a number of information studies.
Newman, Bonta’s advisor, mentioned that the legal professional basic was in the end discovered to not be a sufferer within the case. When requested why a lot cash was spent on attorneys, he mentioned that a number of legal professionals labored over a interval of a number of months.
A consultant for the U.S. legal professional’s workplace declined to touch upon Newman’s assertions.
