Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is facing mounting pressure to resign amid a looming federal investigation involving his daughter, a local nonprofit and more than $10 million in unaccounted for taxpayer money.
Do is in the final year of his second and final term as county supervisor, but calls for his resignation have grown after federal agents raided his and his daughter's home on Thursday, and the scandal is now the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
Among those calling for him to step down is a former boss and mentor who is vying to fill his role at the end of his term. A fellow supervisor also urged Do to “consider” resigning.
“Orange County taxpayers have every right to be angry and demand justice,” said state Sen. Janet Nguyen, who represents District 36 and is running for Do’s seat. “I call on Andrew Do to immediately resign as the First District Supervisor.”
Do served as Nguyen’s chief of staff when she was elected to the board in 2007. The two clashed in 2016 during Do’s campaign for county seat.
Vicente Sarmiento, who sits on the Board of Supervisors, did not call for Do's resignation, but he did urge his colleague to consider doing so.
“While I fully support law enforcement’s efforts to uncover potential corruption and recover taxpayer funds, I also strongly believe in respecting individuals’ rights to due process,” Sarmiento said in a statement to The Times. “We must remember that Supervisor Do has not been convicted of any crime nor is he named as a defendant in the complaint.”
But Sarmiento added that Do's ties to those under investigation also hampered his and the county's ability to do their jobs.
“The current situation has created a climate of public distrust that makes it difficult for the Board to conduct the affairs of the people,” the statement reads. “For these reasons, you should consider resigning.”
Do and his chief of staff, Chris Wangsaporn, did not respond to requests for comment.
Do has faced months of scrutiny after LAist first reported that she had ordered and voted to approve millions of dollars for the Viet America Society, but did not disclose her daughter's involvement in the group.
Last week, Orange County filed a lawsuit against the Viet America Society, accusing the group of pocketing $10 million in contracts to deliver meals to the elderly and needy during the pandemic. The county accused executives at the nonprofit, including Do’s 23-year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do, of buying homes after funneling the money “into their own personal bank accounts.”
On Thursday, officials from the FBI, Department of Justice, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Orange County district attorney’s office raided the homes of Andrew Do, his daughter and VAS CEO Peter Ahn Pham, raising questions about the ongoing scandal and the county supervisor’s role.
Attorney Craig Wilke, who represents Andrew Do, declined to comment.
A lawyer representing Do's daughter did not respond to a request for comment.
After news of the federal searches broke, Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Thai Viet Phan, the city's first Vietnamese-American councilman who represents part of Orange County's Little Saigon, said Do should resign.
“Supervisor Do and his associates at the Vietnamese American Society have failed on every count,” he said in a statement posted on X. “Supervisor Do has lost the trust of our community and should not retain power over a $9.3 billion budget.”
VietRISE, an advocacy group that focuses on Vietnamese and immigrant communities in Orange County, on Thursday reiterated a call for Do to resign.
“While Orange County’s immigrant and refugee communities suffered the brunt of the pandemic, Supervisor Andrew Do leveraged his power to fund extravagant purchases using public funds intended to help our older community members survive,” the organization said in a statement. “Do has failed the residents of his own district.”
It is one of a growing coalition of local organizations calling for him to resign, including the Orange County Justice Fund, the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California and the Arab American Civic Council.
The pressure continued Friday morning, when Buena Park Councilman Connor Traut also called on Do to resign on July 1, arguing that the allegations against him and his daughter “raise serious ethical concerns.”
“Supervisor Do’s continued tenure is untenable,” he said in the statement. “As the legal process unfolds, including a civil lawsuit and FBI searches, the violation of the public trust is undeniable.”
Do has been resisting calls for him to resign for months. In November, the Orange County Register’s editorial board called on him to step down, saying the allegations against him were “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Some of Do's colleagues on the board have also criticized VAS for the allegations detailed in the county's lawsuit, but so far, none have pressured Do to resign.
Supervisors Katrina Foley and Sarmiento had asked the district attorney, state attorney general and Justice Department to investigate VAS after county officials said the nonprofit could not explain how it had spent millions of dollars awarded to it in contracts.
Both applauded the involvement of federal officials during Thursday's search warrants.
“I anticipate that authorities will uncover further evidence demonstrating the brazen criminal conspiracy of these individuals who stole millions to enrich themselves instead of feeding hungry seniors and the disabled,” he said in the statement, which did not name his fellow supervisor.
Board Chairman Don Wagner declined to comment on the investigation through a spokesman.
Board member Doug Chaffee and his staff did not respond to requests for comment on Do's position.
