Prosecutors opened former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's corruption trial with a text: "we may go to jail...but we're $100 million richer." They say it captures a scheme where a recycling company paid for her election and $95,000 for a no-show job, in exchange for city contracts and a late-night call ordering a political appointment.

— via The Oaklandside, Eli Wolfe and Natalie Orenstein