Day 4 of the Sheng Thao trial. The FBI investigation that led to the raids and the indictment started with a tip in February 2023, less than two months after she took office. Special Agent Katherine Barclay told the jury Monday that the Oakland Public Ethics Commission flagged the attack mailers that went out against her opponents in the final days of the 2022 race. The printer who produced them said Mario Juarez never paid. That complaint led agents to Juarez’s iCloud. On it they found a WhatsApp note shared with Andy Duong titled “Deal Points for Sheng Thao :: Election :: Post Election::.” It listed the favors on both sides, including $75,000 for those mailers from California Waste Solutions. The mailer itself darkened Loren Taylor’s face and gave him red eyes. It went to roughly 168,000 homes. Thao won by 677 votes. Her former campaign consultant, Noah Finneburgh, testified that he thought the piece was offensive and wanted the campaign to denounce it. He said Thao and Andre Jones decided not to, because the mailer was helping them. Outside the courthouse, local advocates held a press conference calling for an end to the culture of corruption at City Hall. Former recall leader Seneca Scott said, “The city of Oakland is still run by the same corrupt machine that gave us Sheng Thao. Nobody has even apologized for supporting her.” Former Councilmember Loren Taylor, who lost to Thao by those 677 votes, said coordination between the Thao campaign and the attack ad “seems pretty apparent to me.” Testimony resumes Thursday.