OAKLAND — Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s attorney is considering asking a federal judge to move his client’s upcoming bribery and fraud trial away from the city where Thao was ousted from office in an unprecedented recall election last fall.

The attorney, Jeffrey Tsai, told a federal judge Thursday he is mulling a change of venue request for the former mayor, who faces several charges in an alleged “pay-to-play” scheme with the owners of the city’s contracted recycling company. Such a move could complicate prosecutors expectations — aired for the first time Thursday — of taking the case to trial by mid-2026, though an official date has yet been set.

U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers gave Tsai until Sept. 11 to request the trial be moved outside of Oakland, where hearing

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