The Orange County Board of Supervisors censured Andrew Do on Tuesday, marking another significant, if ceremonial, rebuke to the embattled politician.
In a three pages In the resolution, the board “firmly and publicly” condemned Do “for his failure to comply with the code of ethics and commitment to public service, and for the reckless judgment and favoritism he has demonstrated.”
The censure was approved 4-0, with Do absent. The supervisor, who is in the final year of his final term, has not attended a board meeting since Aug. 13, after being marked “excused” absent three times.
Do did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The censure follows the board's decision to remove Do from all committee and board appointments. September 10thHe has also faced calls to resign from the board of directors.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 15, Orange County alleged that executives at a nonprofit, the Viet America Society, had “blatantly looted” taxpayer money intended to feed needy seniors during the pandemic.
Among the executives named in the suit was Do's daughter, Rhiannon. LAist previously reported that Do had sent or voted to send as much as $13.5 million to the Viet America Society without disclosing that her daughter was linked to the group.
In early August, the county demanded that the Viet America Society repay $2.2 million after the organization failed to prove to auditors or the county how it spent the money or that it had performed the work it was hired to do.
The lawsuit alleges that some of those funds were used to purchase multiple homes.
Rhiannon Do, 23, is alleged to have used county dollars to purchase a home in Tustin in July 2023. The sale price was $1.035 million, according to the real estate site Redfin.
Rhiannon Do’s attorney, David Wiechert, said in an earlier email to The Times that she is “a hard-working, honest and law-abiding young woman.”
The third-year law student at UC Irvine also previously interned at the Orange County District Attorney's office for three months as officials prepared to file a lawsuit against the Viet America Society.
After the complaint was filed, federal agents raided the homes of Rhiannon and Andrew Do.
The censure approved by the board states that Andrew Do demonstrated “reckless and unethical conduct in the performance of his duties as a trustee of public funds.”
“Supervisor Andrew Do blatantly exploited his position of power to enrich his family and friends under the guise of feeding seniors, supporting veterans and hosting community events,” said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley. In a statement.
Foley has called on Do to resign, as has state Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach), who is running to succeed him on the board.
The lawsuit was moved last month from Orange County to San Diego County. A hearing on the motion has been set for Oct. 18.
