Bombshell: DA Price accused of asking for $25,000 bribe to fund campaign against her recall
Oakland businessman, subject of FBI probe, alleges Price asked for money to fund opposition to recall in exchange for dropping felony charge
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price sought a $25,000 donation to her campaign to oppose the recall from political rival, Oakland businessman Mario Juarez, in exchange for dropping felony charges for passing bad checks, according to a court filing in Alameda County Superior Court on Thursday.
Price allegedly made the request after the Jan. 7 funeral of Oakland police officer Tuan Le while touring the showroom for Evolutionary Homes, the partnership between the Duong family and Juarez has been mentioned in the ongoing FBI investigation.
“Ms. Price talked to Mr. Juarez about changing their relationship. She explained that as the District Attorney for Alameda County she could help Mr. Juarez, but that to get her help he would ‘need to show love and support to her,’” according to the court filing. “Specifically, she wanted $25,000.00 in cash from him to support her campaign against the ongoing recall effort against her.”
Juarez rejected Price and vowed to continue his “quest against her political efforts.”
“Too bad,” Price allegedly said, according to the court filing, and “said they could have helped each other. She ended the conversation by saying that he would be hearing from her office soon and ‘it will not be pretty especially during the political campaign that we are both facing.’”
At the time, Price and Juarez, was among a large field of candidates seeking election to the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee in the March Primary earlier this year.
“I believe Pamela Price filed a criminal complaint against me in retaliation for not agreeing to make a financial contribution to her campaign,” Juarez wrote in a declaration included in the filing. “The charge was further intended to negatively influence my chances of winning the election while boosting Pamela Price's and Loren Taylor's chances of winning.”
The existence of the Jan. 7 meeting involving Price, Juarez, and David Duong, founder of California Waste Solution, had been previously reported. That Price and Juarez were in the same room and speaking to each other was surprising.
Juarez created an attack website named BadPam.com to thwart Price’s campaign for district attorney in 2022, and has made no effort to conceal his dislike for her over the years.
Juarez also alleges that Price also asked Duong for financial support, although it’s not clear if the request was personal or for her recall campaign.
Separate allegations about the Duong family’s use of “straw donors” to fund campaigns at the national, state, and local level may be part of the FBI’s investigation that included the June 20 raid on the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao; the home of Andy Duong, David Duong’s son; and the office’s of California Waste Solutions.
Former Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Otis Bruce, Jr. is also placed at the Jan. 7 meeting, according to the court filing.
It is alleged that Bruce expressed interest in partnering with Juarez and Duong in Evolutionary Homes, the modular homes venture that may be part of the FBI probe.
Bruce abruptly announced his resignation from the DA’s office in late June, effective July 13. The announcement came five days after the June 20 FBI raids.
The felony charge against Juarez was for allegedly passing $53,000 in bad checks for the printing and mailing of controversial political mailers sent late in the November 2022 election against mayoral candidates Loren Taylor and Ignacio De La Fuente.
According to the timeline in the court filing, Price’s office received the felony charge eight months prior to file it, and 16 days after making the alleged request for $25,000 from Juarez.
Furthermore, Juarez’s attorney, Ernie Castillo, alleges in an affidavit that the deputy district attorney privately told him there was insufficient evidence to prove fraud.
In the filing to dismiss the case, Castillo argued that Price has “personal and retaliatory motivations in bringing these charges.”
Last month, the California Attorney General’s office dropped the case brought against Butch Ford, a former Alameda County prosecutor and political opponent of Price, due to insufficient evidence. In August, an Alameda County Superior Court judge had forced Price to recuse herself from the Ford case,
