OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta received a letter last year warning him that East Bay businessman Andy Duong had a recording of the politician in “a compromising position,” and that he may be at risk of blackmail.

The emergence of the May 2024 letter follows the revelation that Bonta spent $468,000 of his campaign cash on lawyers while being questioned by federal authorities investigating a sprawling East Bay corruption case, which later ensnared Duong and several others.

The missive — which was sent directly to Bonta’s office — was penned and signed by Mario Juarez, a two-time Oakland City Council candidate and longtime political operative whose credibility has come under withering attack in recent court filings.

Whether it spurred the attorney general’s subsequent lega

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