Newsom’s office asked Oakland to clear encampment near Marshawn Lynch’s home
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office tried to get Oakland officials to clear a homeless encampment near the home of the governor’s podcast co-host, former Seattle Seahawks running back and UC Berkeley football star Marshawn Lynch.
According to text messages obtained via a public records request, Newsom’s office pressed Leigh Hanson, then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff, starting in late May 2024 to clear RVs near the Lynch family’s house in the Temescal neighborhood.
“Hey Harold, I got a call from the Governor’s office regarding a number of RVs that are parked out in front of Marshawn Lynch’s family home,” Hanson texted then-Director of Public Works Harold Duffey and then-City Administrator Jestin Johnson on May 28, 2024. “The Governor’s office is requesting our support to help resolve the issues in a timely manner.”
Hanson said there were “several campers” there that were “doing questionable things.”
Hanson’s texts, which were first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, were subpoenaed during a federal corruption investigation into Thao’s administration. The texts were released as part of a public records request seeking all messages between Johnson and other Oakland officials starting in November 2022. Thao was recalled from office in 2024 and indicted by federal authorities last year on bribery charges.
Lynch is a co-host of the “Politickin’ ” podcast, along with Newsom occasionally and Doug Hendrickson, who is Lynch’s agent and Newsom’s longtime friend. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, introduced Lynch as a special guest on the chamber floor last August. Newsom was a regular Politickin’ host from its July 2024 launch to March 2025 but has appeared less frequently on the show since its March 2026 return. Hendrickson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on behalf of himself or Lynch.
Governor’s office responds
It’s unclear who from Newsom’s office reached out to Hanson or if city officials successfully cleared the encampment. Hanson could not be reached for comment. She recently filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city after Thao’s successor, Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins, fired her in April 2025.
Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos said in an email on Wednesday that the state had repeatedly tried to get Thao’s office to address high crime rates and “persistent public safety issues” to no success, because Thao “wasn’t moving with any urgency.”
“That was the reality of a city struggling to manage core responsibilities. The Governor ultimately had to surge CHP (California Highway Patrol) resources and operational support into Oakland because local leadership had lost control of the situation,” Gallegos wrote.
Previous text messages released via the request showed Hanson mentioning sporadic contact between the mayor’s office and members of Newsom’s administration, like his longtime former aide Jason Elliott, for advice on framing homelessness and public safety issues to local media.
On June 1, 2024, Hanson followed up to say Newsom’s office had reached out again. She said she had visited Lynch’s block, where she witnessed two campers and “5-6 pit bulls” that had taken over “most of the street.” Six days later, she asked Johnson and Duffey for “any update on the Marshawn house.”
Later that day, Johnson and Duffey separately discussed potentially closing the encampment with help from the fire department, but it’s unclear if they took action.
A resignation, bribe allegations and the FBI
Johnson resigned last week after texts between him and Duffey came to light that showed the two making crass remarks about other female officials. Duffey is now city manager of Brentwood in Contra Costa County.
The FBI said Thao and her romantic partner, Andre Jones, sought over $300,000 in bribes from the Duong family, the owners of the California Waste Solutions recycling company, for helping extend the Duongs’ contract with the city of Oakland. Prosecutors said Thao also helped the Duongs try to secure a contract with the city for their modular home company, Evolutionary Homes.
The scandal has mentioned other California politicians, including married couple Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, and Attorney General Rob Bonta, who have not been implicated or charged with wrongdoing but have ties to the Duong family.
As a state legislator, Rob Bonta lobbied for the California Energy Commission to award grant money for a green energy project to Viridis, a company run by the Duongs and their business partner, Mario Juarez, who is the FBI’s star witness.
Rob Bonta later spent $500,000 in campaign funds to represent himself in the case against the Duongs, who have donated to him and posted photos on social media of themselves socializing with both Bontas.
Mia Bonta won her husband’s Assembly seat in a special June 2021 election after he was appointed attorney general. She rented office space from Juarez and received donations from the Duong family, which she said she returned.
