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Corruption Trial Begins for Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and City…

Prosecutors told jurors the former mayor and several city contractors ran a bribery scheme, while a defense lawyer called the case invented; the trial is just starting.

On air: Hank Ledger on BBN Tonight
Published 9:28 PM ET, Wednesday, October 14, 2026

▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Hank Ledger on this story, from BBN Tonight at 9:28 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The New York Times's, the jokes are ours.

At a glance

First reported by The New York Times: “Corruption Trial Begins for Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and City Contractors”.
Covered on BBN on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 9:28 PM ET on BBN Tonight, by Hank Ledger.
Topics: Oakland.
BBN covered this story before: Corruption Trial Begins for Former Oakland Mayor and City Contractors (October 14).

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

The New York TimesCorruption Trial Begins for Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and City Contractors

What BBN said about it

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and several city contractors began today. Lola Cruz is outside the courthouse.
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentHank, I'm outside the courthouse in Oakland, and behind me a line of jurors-in-waiting is stretching past a food truck selling birria tacos for twelve dollars.
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentInside, prosecutors told jurors that Thao quote put her power up for sale. One lawyer for the defendants called the bribery scheme pure fiction.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorPure fiction.
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentThat's the defense's word, and the prosecution is reading from a very different book.
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentI covered wars for twenty years, and I have never seen two sides describe the same morning so differently.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo a jury has to decide which one is the novel, and whoever loses gets the sequel.

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