Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is dealing with rising strain to resign amid a looming federal probe involving his daughter, an area nonprofit and greater than $10 million in unaccounted taxpayer cash.
Do is within the final yr of his second and final time period as county supervisor, however requires him to resign have elevated after federal brokers raided his and his daughter’s house Thursday, with the scandal now the topic of a federal felony investigation.
Amongst these asking him to step down is a former boss and mentor vying to take his seat on the finish of his time period. A fellow supervisor additionally urged Do to “contemplate” stepping down.
“Orange County taxpayers have each proper to be furious and demand justice,” stated state Sen. Janet Nguyen, who represents the thirty sixth District and is operating for Do’s seat. “I name upon Andrew Do to right away resign as Supervisor for the First District.”
Do labored as Nguyen’s chief of employees when she was elected to the board in 2007. The 2 had a falling out in 2016, throughout Do’s marketing campaign for the county seat.
Vicente Sarmiento, who sits on the Board of Supervisors, stopped in need of calling on Do to resign, however did urge his colleague to contemplate doing so.
“Whereas I absolutely help regulation enforcement’s effort to uncover potential corruption and get better taxpayer funds, I’m additionally a agency believer in respecting individuals’s due course of rights,” Sarmiento stated in an announcement to The Occasions. “We should keep in mind that Supervisor Do has not been convicted of a criminal offense, neither is he a named defendant within the criticism.”
However Sarmiento added that Do’s ties to these underneath investigation additionally hindered his, and the county’s, capability to do their job.
“The present scenario has created a local weather of public mistrust that makes it tough for the Board to conduct the enterprise of the individuals,” the assertion learn. “For these causes, he ought to contemplate stepping down.”
Do and his chief of employees, Chris Wangsaporn, didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Do has confronted months of scrutiny after LAist first reported that he had directed and voted to approve hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to Viet America Society, but did not disclose his daughter’s involvement with the group.
Then final week, Orange County filed a lawsuit in opposition to Viet America Society, accusing the group of pocketing $10 million in contracts to ship meals to the aged and the needy through the pandemic. The county accused executives on the nonprofit, together with Do’s 23-year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do, of as a substitute shopping for properties after funneling the cash, “to their very own private financial institution accounts.”
On Thursday, officers with the FBI, Division of Justice, IRS Legal Investigation and the Orange County district lawyer’s workplace raided the properties of Andrew Do, his daughter, and VAS Chief Government Peter Ahn Pham, elevating questions in regards to the ongoing scandal and the county supervisor’s position.
Legal professional Craig Wilke, who’s representing Andrew Do, declined to remark.
An lawyer representing Do’s daughter didn’t reply to a request for remark.
After information of the federal searches broke, Santa Ana Mayor Professional Tem Thai Viet Phan, the town’s first Vietnamese American councilmember who represents a part of Orange County’s Little Saigon, stated Do should step down.
“Supervisor Do and his associates at Viet American Society have failed on all accounts,” she stated in an announcement posted on X. “Supervisor Do has misplaced the belief of our group and shouldn’t retain energy over a $9.3 billion funds.”
VietRISE, an activist group that focuses on Vietnamese and immigrant communities in Orange County, on Thursday reiterated a name for Do to resign.
“Whereas Orange County’s immigrant and refugee communities suffered the brunt of the pandemic’s onset, Supervisor Andrew Do leveraged his energy to finance extravagant purchases utilizing public funds supposed to hep our senior group members survive,” the group stated in an announcement. “Do has failed the residents of his personal District.”
It’s considered one of a rising coalition of native organizations asking him to step down, together with the Orange County Justice Fund, Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California and the Arab American Civic Council.
The strain continued Friday morning, with Buena Park Councilmemember Connor Traut additionally calling on Do to resign on X, arguing that the allegations in opposition to him and his daughter are “elevating severe moral considerations.”
“Supervisor Do’s continued presence in workplace is untenable,” he stated within the assertion. “Whereas the authorized course of unfolds—together with a civil swimsuit and raids by the FBI—the breach of public belief is plain.”
Do has resisted calls for to resign for months now. In November, the Orange County Register editorial board known as on him to resign, saying the allegations in opposition to him had been “the ultimate straw.”
A few of Do’s colleagues on the board have additionally blasted VAS for the allegations detailed within the county’s lawsuit. However up to now, none have pressed Do to resign.
Supervisors Katrina Foley and Sarmiento had requested the district lawyer, state lawyer common and the Division of Justice to analyze VAS after county officers stated the nonprofit couldn’t account the way it had spent the hundreds of thousands of {dollars} it was awarded in contracts.
Each applauded the involvement of federal officers through the search warrants Thursday.
“I anticipate regulation enforcement will uncover further proof that proves the brazen felony conspiracy by these people who stole hundreds of thousands to complement themselves as a substitute of feeding hungry, disabled seniors,” she stated within the assertion, which didn’t point out her fellow supervisor.
Board Chairman Don Wagner declined to touch upon the investigation through a spokesperson.
Board member Doug Chaffee and his employees didn’t reply to requests for remark about Do’s seat.
