of leadership in city hall well, joining me now is former fbi special agent jeff harp. thanks for being here. i know you didn't have anything to do with this particular. operation. and there are a lot of questions out there, but with your background. what would today's events in oakland? indicate to you about what's going on there? well, a couple things really important that were previously mentioned. obviously serving a search warrant takes a high level of trust takes a high threshold to get across and you know, judge has to sign off on that and feel comfortable that the evidence that presenting is going to take them. you know, there's not going to be any recourse. so i think that we know that there was probably substantial. evidence to support to support this search warrant. fbi takes these kind of cases. supersede seriously. not that they don't take any other case seriously. but these have sort of nuances behind them that are very complicated. they're an elected official they're supposed to be in a position of trust and confidence. so they want to make certain that e

. >> reporter: former fbi special agent in charge jeff harp says agents were likely looking for items that may be connected to a white collar crime. >> they'll take books that have notes in them. they were going to take any kind of media, thumb drives, computers, cell phones, and all that data will be analyzed, mirrored and she'll get her computers back. >> reporter: members from the recall effort arrived at thao's home just after 5:00 p.m. demanding answers from the mayor. former superior court judge who was ousted by thao is also part of the recall effort against thao says the raid escalates calls for her to step down. >> i was stunned to tell you the truth. i was shocked. i was disheartened and just extremely disappointed that she has -- that this shame has been brought to the city. we are a national disgrace. it is unfortunate because oakland deserves so much better. >> reporter: but tony brass says the raid on the highest ranking city official indicates authorities are certain of her involvement in misconduct. >> this really does besmirch the name of the mayor of oakland, so they

. >> reporter: security analyst jeff harp spent years in the fbi. he says the agency does take political implications seriously and often does offer to cooperate, though not always, with a search warrant. >> no. the fbi, no. that makes zero sense because if you're going to serve a search warrant, you don't somebody the heads up that you're coming. >> what i do know is that this wouldn't have gone down the way it did if i was rich, had gone to elite private schools or had come from money. i know that for sure because former elected officials are sitting safely in their houses in the hills right now with campaign financial violations piling up, mountains of evidence that prove actual wrongdoing. their front doors remain intact. >> she cited her origins again, her compelling biography, where she's come from, how she's poor, this is a conspiracy of the billionaires who are trying to flush out all the liberals in government. >> reporter: university of san francisco professor james taylor says the mayor seemed to be using the raid of her home with no form

security analyst jeff harp who spent years in the fbi told us this. >> search warrant doesn't target the person. it targets the location where the fbi feels there may be evidence that is tied to the crime. >> so person not targeted. location. mayor thao says she has questions for the u.s. attorney overseeing the investigation including why she was not first given the option to just let the feds in to cooperate. specifically questions directed at this man, u.s. attorney for the northern district of california among other career credits. well, jeff harp told us the fbi takes political implications seriously and often does offer to cooperate. but not always in the case of a search warrant. listen. >> no. the fbi -- no. that -- makes zero sense. because if you are going to serve a search warrant, you don't give somebody the heads-up that you are coming. >> meanwhile, gianna, a community conversation is happening in realtime. not only on social media, but on the streets from people who are saying the mayor needs the step down. >> yeah a lot of questions happening and people want answers a

former fbi special agent in charge jeff harp says agents were likely looking for items that may be connected to a white collar crime. >>they're going to take books that have notes in them. they were going to take obviously, any kind of media thumb drives computers, cell phones and that sort of thing and all that data will be analyzed mirrored and, um, obviously, she'll get her computers back, but they'll look through it with a fine tooth comb. >>members of the recall effort arrived 2 towers home after the feds left, demanding answers from the mayor. former superior court judge brenda harbin forte was ousted by tau from her role on the police commission. she's part of the recall effort against tile and says the raid escalates their calls for the mayor to step down. >>extremely disappointed. that she has that the shame has been broken city we are a national disgrace. it is unfortunate because it deserves so much better. >>the n w a. a. c p released a statement saying quote while the public should refrain from a rush to judgment the leadership of the akp and its members are calling on mayor sha

former fbi special agent in charge jeff harp said agents were likely looking for documents related to a crime. >> they were going to take books, any kind of media, thumb drives, cell phones, computers, that kind of thing and all that data will be analyzed, mirrored and she'll get her computers back. they'll look through it with a fine toothed comb. >> reporter: some neighbors say they are surprised the mayor could be involved in this conduct. others were not so shocked. >> i haven't respected her. i think she's in over her head. she doesn't know how to do the job. >> reporter: but tony brass said the raid on the highest ranking city official indicates authorities are certain of her involvement in misconduct. >> this really does besmirch the name of of oakland, so they better be right. this says there's corruption and we couldn't get the cooperation of the mayor in investigating this corruption. >> reporter: again, just to be very clear, it remains unclear thao's connection to this raid at her home. we are working diligently to get our hands on the search warrant to give us more inform

are not saying anything about what they are investigating and who is their target security analyst jeff harp, who spent years in the fbi told us this the search warrant doesn't target the person. it targets the location where the fbi feels there may be evidence that's tied to the crime. mayor tell says she has questions for the u. s attorney overseeing the investigation, including why she wasn't 1st given the option to just let the feds in and cooperate. specifically questions directed at ismail j. ramsey, us attorney for the northern district of california, among other correct credits, jeff hart told us the fbi takes political implications seriously and often does offer to cooperate, but not always with a search warrant. i know the fbi. no. you that makes 0 sense because if you're going to serve a search warrant you don't give somebody the heads up that you're coming. continue to follow the latest developments on the raids on air online and on the free cbs news app. it was an active weather morning for us, with some lightning activity and light showers. passing throughout the bay area is pa

security analyst jeff harp, who spent years in the fbi, told us this tonight. >> the search warrant doesn'tthe person. it targets the location where the fbi feels there may be evidence that's tied to the crime. >> mayor thao says she has questions for the u.s. attorney overseeing the investigation, including why she was not given the opportunity to cooperate, in her words. her questions are directed at ismael j. ramsey. he is the u.s. attorney for the northern district of california. ramsey is a biden appointee who was confirmed by the senate last march. before that, the aforce vet was a partner at a berkeley law firm. he once worked as an assistant attorney at the office he now runs. an option does offer to cooperate but not always with a search warrant. >> the fbi, no, that makes zero sense, because if you're going to serve a search warrant, you don't give somebody the heads up that you're coming. >> just two days before the fbi came knocking, a group fighting to oust thao collected enough signatures to lead to a mayoral recall election, and today recall supporters rallied for her to step

indeed, before they take a step like that >>former fbi special agent in charge jeff harp says agents were likely looking for items that may be connected to a white collar crime. you know they're going to take books that have notes in them. they were going to take obviously, any kind of media thumb drives computers. iphones and that sort of thing. and all that data will be analyzed mirrored and um, obviously, she'll get her computers back, but they'll look through it with a fine tooth comb. members from the recall effort arrived 2 towers home just after 5 p.m. demanding answers from the mayor. former superior court judge brenda harbin forte, who was ousted by tau from her role in the police commission, is also part of the recall effort against how she says the rate escalates their calls for her to step down. was stunned. all right. tell you the truth. i was shocked by i was yes. and just yeah. extremely disappointed that she has that this shame has been broken. city we are a national disgrace. yeah. and that's unfortunate because he deserves so much better. but tony brass says the rat

. >> reporter: former fbi special agent in charge jeff harp says agents were likely looking for itemst may be connected to a white collar crime. >> you know, they going to take books that have notes in them. they're going to take obviously any kind of media thumb drives and computers. cell phones and that sort of thing. and all that data will be analyzed, mirrored and obviously she'll get her computers back but they'll look through it with a fine tooth comb. >> reporter: members from the recall effort arrived to her home just after 5:00 p.m. demanding answers from the mayor. former judge who was ousted by thao from her role if the police commission is also part of the recall effort against her. she says the raid escalates their calls for her to step down. >> i was stunned to tell you the truth. i was -- shocked. i was disheartened. and just -- extremely disappointed that she has -- that shame has been brought to the city. we are a national disgrace. and it is unfortunate because oakland -- deserves so much better. >> reporter: but tony brass says the raid on the highest ranking city o