American Photographer — publishing one million photographs.
Joined December 2006
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Jun 11
Barbara Lee has pocketed nearly $860,000 from corporate PACs and lobbyists over her career. This is corporate PAC money only, lots of other lobbyists have paid her more on top of that.
Meanwhile Oakland crumbles with crime, homelessness, and failing services.
One of her biggest donor families is the Duongs (David and Andy Duong) who were raided by the FBI with bribery & hitman allegations.
They also gave heavily to Oakland's last mayor the disgraced and recalled Sheng Thao who is currently under Federal bribery indictment.
Lee only gave the Duongs $5,000 of their "donations" back after they became too controversial to be associated with.
This is exactly why Oakland is broken.
At what point do Oakland voters say enough of the grifting and demand accountability?
Mayor Barbara Lee accepted $67,950 from the Duong CRIME family, one of her largest donors.
The Duongs were raided by the FBI in June 2024 and later indicted in a federal BRIBERY case involving her predecessor, recalled Mayor Sheng Thao. Court documents allege they attempted to have key witness Mario Juarez KILLED by a hitman for cooperating with investigators.
This is the dangerous CORRUPTION tied to the leadership running Oakland.
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Jun 11
Love seeing this. More of this please.
Jun 10
🎥June 10 2026 2:15pm location
Turk & Hyde
California Highway Patrol is patrolling the Tenderloin and there even getting out of there patrol cars arresting people for smoking on Public sidewalks. Listen to the reason why they’re doing this today.
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Jun 10
Were the Duongs the ones paying for the lobster boondogle to the Alps? I'm surprised they did not bring Sheng Thao along for the trip as well. I'm sure there was a lot of important things to learn about Oakland at a luxury resort in the Alps. Sounds like a fun time though, I guess it's better if the lobbyists are paying for it than the taxpayers?
While Oakland faced skyrocketing crime and businesses fleeing the city, Mayor Barbara Lee was in the German Alps staying at Schloss Elmau, a FIVE-STAR luxury resort paid for by lobbyists. Her husband’s costs alone exceeded $12,000.
She later became the #1 recipient of this kind of privately funded travel in Congress.
This is who has been leading Oakland…
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Jun 10
from Grok: Yes, this is true and well-documented. In February 2020, then-Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) participated in a privately funded Congress-Bundestag Forum on U.S.-German relations. She and her husband, Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden Jr., stayed at the Schloss Elmau, a historic five-star luxury resort in the Bavarian Alps, Germany.
newsday.com
Key Facts:
Husband’s costs: Records show Oden’s portion of the trip (travel, lodging, meals, etc.) exceeded $12,000, while Lee attended the official forum.newsday.com
The image: The photo in the X post (showing Lee and her husband dining on lobster with champagne, mountain views, and red umbrellas) is authentic and matches contemporary reporting on the trip.
Privately funded travel: These trips are legal under House rules when sponsored by approved organizations (often nonprofits, think tanks, or groups with lobbying ties). Lee was one of the most frequent participants in such travel.cnsmaryland.org
Broader Context:
An investigative report by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism (University of Maryland) and others highlighted how Lee led House members in privately funded trips since at least 2012, often including family members in business-class travel and high-end stays.facebook.com
She became Oakland’s mayor in May 2025, so this specific trip happened while she was still in Congress (not as mayor).
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Jun 10
Woah! I just got $7.31 for Facebook violating my privacy. I'm rich!!!
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Jun 9
I went to a talk Pamela Price gave when she was still the district attorney of Alameda county before she was recalled.
She spent the entire talk talking about how she was going back to people who had already been convicted and sentenced for crimes and trying to shorten their sentences so that they could get out of prison early.
She didn’t mention victims at all other than she thought the incarcerated black and brown men, as she called them, were the victims.
This was going on while Oakland was in the middle of a crime spree and the murders in Oakland were twice that of San Francisco with half the population and she was declining to prosecute serious cases.
I am glad that voters made the right decision in not returning her back to that office.
She was a disaster.
PRICE IS WRONG: Recalled DA Pamela Price in 2024 now thought voters wanted her back in office. She just ran in last week’s elections and boy she her got butt kicked.
My latest for the California Globe:
californiaglobe.com/fr/pamel…
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Jun 9
And here I thought she was already over 80.
Oakland deserves leadership that’s awake for the job.
At 79 years of age and while missing meetings due to naps, you have chosen to run for re-election rather than retire. Oakland deserves a mayor who is consistently present and engaged in the work of governing. It is time for new leadership.
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Jun 7
Barbara Lee = Sheng Thao 2.0
Oakland voters just rejected Mayor Barbara Lee’s parcel tax by a clear margin. They were told it was necessary for public safety. The data tells a different story…
Under Measure NN, voters approved roughly $47 million per year with a specific commitment: maintain 700 sworn Oakland police officers. As of early 2026, OPD has approximately 618 sworn officers — roughly 90 below the legal mandate and more than 250 below the independent recommendation of 877.
Attrition continues, with dozens more officers on extended leave. Despite multiple tax measures and repeated assurances, the department remains critically understaffed for the workload the city faces. Voters just declined to write another blank check.
This is not an isolated funding issue. Mayor Lee accepted significant contributions from the Duong family, owners of California Waste Solutions, who were later tied to the federal corruption case involving her predecessor. The family ranked among her largest donors. Some contributions were returned only after indictments and public scrutiny intensified.
The pattern is consistent: proximity to the previous administration’s problems, reliance on new revenue measures, and outcomes that have not matched the promises made to voters. Oakland residents are experiencing the results in real time — on the streets, in response times, and in basic service delivery.
The structural budget deficit remains severe. Executive priorities have included significant staff compensation increases even as the city grapples with vacancies and service gaps. Voters appear to have noticed the disconnect.
Accountability is not partisan. It is the basic requirement of effective local government. Mayor Lee’s first year has revealed the same challenges that led to the previous recall — now with new leadership at the helm.
Do you believe Mayor Barbara Lee should run for re-election in November?
Yes
No
Undecided
Follow @FireBarbaraLee for ongoing, evidence-based analysis of the mayor’s record and administration. The full picture matters.
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Jun 2
"As mayor there's no more handing out clean needles, no more pipes. My police will arrest you if you're handing paraphernalia to drug addicts. So that's done."
-- @spencerpratt
It is absurd that San Francisco does this. We needed a Spencer Pratt and we got a lightweight Daniel Lurie.
If Pratt gets elected all of Los Angeles' junkies are heading up our way, get ready for it.
@DanielLurie shut this down now.
CAUGHT IN THE ACT! Tonight we found SF AIDS Foundation passing out meth/crack pipes and fentanyl foil- flagrantly breaking city policy. They didn’t like the cameras so packed up. @SF_DPH, we assume you will consider this multiple violations now? @kunalmodi @DanielLurie @war24182236 @SusanDReynolds
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Jun 2
There was a Whole Foods Grocery store nearby the Tenderloin on Market Street Bilal.
They shut it down because the place was being ROBBED BLIND BY JUNKIES.
One even overdosed and died in their bathroom.
Maybe it's time to take a pause and ask ourselves WHY a grocery store wouldn't want to be in the Tenderloin. Maybe it's time to deport the ILLEGAL Honduran drug dealers and arrest the junkies and make the Tenderloin a more welcoming place for a grocery store to want to be. How about that for an idea?
3500 kids in the Tenderloin. But no whole sale grocery store. No pharmacy. Not even a toy store.
What we do have is a proliferation of corner stores. It's time to take a pause, and thoughtfully explore new investments in the neighborhood.
Supervisor @mattdorsey passed legislation yesterday that I cosponsored to establish interim zoning controls in the Tenderloin and SOMA that eliminate the automatic approval of new corner stores, and require applicants to establish neighborhood need going forward.
This will have no effect on existing businesses. But it will
give us time 18 months to establish new zoning schemes that incentivize the types of businesses the children, families, and residents of the Tenderloin truly need.
More from @miss_elenius and @MLNow at: missionlocal.org/2026/06/sf-…
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May 30
We do not have to live this way. These are policy choices based on bad public policy.
Reminder, it does not have to be this way.
May 29
I am not particularly political however having been in SF for the better part of 3 months and watching the @spencerpratt campaign in LA, I have a few observations.
1. Listening to the screams of addicts at 3 in the morning on Union Square is slightly terrifying at first. And then you just accept that we are living in an open asylum.
2. I have yet to go a full day without seeing at least 1 human openly smoking crack or shooting up.
3. I have seen more ass cracks in public than any human should be subjected to.
4. On day 8, I had the lovely misfortune of having pee splattered on my as a woman unleashed upon a light pole.
On what planet is any of this humane? How is this acceptable?
I wanted to love it here and mostly I do. I have met some amazing people, the weather is obnoxiously perfect and we are making more progress in the startup/tech ecosystem than we ever would have back home.
That being said, am I going to ever put permanent roots down in a city where my out of town friends or potential children will have to navigate piles of feces on the sidewalk or miss their bus stop because some tweaker is freaking out and puts you on high alert? Honestly, no.
I can't vote legally in the state or I would wholeheartedly support anyone who is for cleaning this shit up.
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May 24
San Francisco needed a Spencer Pratt but instead we got a Daniel Lurie.
This is the correct way to frame the issue.
If your OWN SON were the one out dying on the street, you certainly wouldn’t be giving them free money for drugs and free drug paraphernalia.
You wouldn’t enable if it were your OWN SON.
Daniel Lurie doesn’t care about dead addicts though. He is incapable of sympathizing or evaluating the problem through this lens.
San Francisco needed a Spencer Pratt and instead we got a Daniel Lurie.
Another do nothing politician with a million dollar PR campaign who props up and funds the NGOs perpetuating the problem rather than dismantling them.
We needed real change and instead we got Gavin Newsom Lite, London Breed 2.0. More of the same.
If Spencer Pratt does get elected and he does follow through, one thing that will happen is a TON of Los Angeles’ junkies will migrate here were they can be coddled and enabled and the problem in San Francisco will get even worse.
May 21
If that addict on your street were your own son, what would you do? That is the defining question that guides my 5 step plan to fix the homelessness problem in LA. We *must* end this evil racket of corrupt politicians and NGOs who profit off the misery of these poor souls. They launder money and feed them more drugs, so they can keep their customers locked in this hell on our streets. We have a moral obligation from God to help them and make our city safe and clean for everyone. Karen Bass and Nithya Raman have forsaken this city. Time for real leadership. Time for real compassion.
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