Day 6 of the Sheng Thao trial. Prosecutors played a 2019 recording of then-Councilmember Sheng Thao talking to Andy Duong about a closed-session discussion on California Waste Solutions. She named names. “Noel, fucking Dan, and Loren kept bringing it up,” she said. “It was mainly Dan.” She told him Rebecca Kaplan was concerned and that Loren Taylor would “shut the fuck up” if Larry Reid stepped in. Then she added, “We don’t need people hearing us talk” and “We don’t want to be seen with you guys.” The same day the jury heard texts from Thao and Andre Jones about money. In December 2022 she told him to “pay the fucking rent” while PG&E was over $1,000 and the water bill was around $800. In January a check from Mario Juarez hit Jones’s account the same day she pressed him on rent. Later, after she was mayor, she texted that the power had been shut off and reconnection would cost $6,000. By November she was telling him to turn off the lights because she “cannot pay” a $3,000 bill. Barclay also walked through a roughly 100-page Evolutionary Homes group chat that never included Jones, plus emails and an org chart that left him off the government-relations side. A $35,000 check from the company still went to him in November 2023. On a separate recording Andy Duong told Thao, “You need to get your shit together. If you want to continue for another term, you better start acting right.” The defense started cross-examination by pointing out that Oakland never bought the housing units and never extended the recycling contract. One juror was excused. Trial continues next week.