Bao Nguyen has accepted thousands in Wall Street and special interest donations

For Immediate Release: October 20, 2024

Contact: Nina Tognazzini, (949) 933-7533, Shallman Communications

BAO NGUYEN: PAY-TO-PLAY POLITICIAN

Nguyen Accepts Thousands in Wall Street and Special Interest Donations

Santa Ana, CA- On May 9th at a Candidate forum, Bao Nguyen boldly said, “Money is the problem and that’s what Senator Bernie Sanders has highlighted. He’s not an establishment candidate, and I’m not either.” Yet within weeks of making this statement, Bao cashed checks from UBS Wealth Management and Wells Fargo executives.

Whether it is granting huge tax breaks to campaign contributors or awarding multimillion-dollar city projects and development deals to campaign donors, Bao has a history of accepting questionable contributions from special interests and engaging in pay-to-play politics. For someone who supposedly shares Senator Sander’s wariness of big moneyed donors, his campaign relies on their support and the dirty political tactics that come along with it.

Bao has a record of taking care of his developer friends. On January 12, Kam Sang/New Age Garden Grove, LLC met with Garden Grove city officials for a third attempt at negotiating a 10 acre development project. After failing to reach a deal twice the previous year, Kam Sang donated $2,700 to Bao Nguyen’s congressional campaign. Three months later, Bao voted to give an exclusive negotiation agreement to New Age Garden Grove, LLC.

In February, Bao once again engaged in pay-to-play politics for personal gain and voted to give a multimillion-dollar development deal to one of his campaign contributors, this time, LAB Holding LLC. Shaheen Sadeghi, owner of LAB Holding LLC, donated to Bao’s campaign. Within months, Bao voted to give LAB Holding LLC a city development agreement and in a separate vote, an exclusive lease and sublease agreement. Over three months, LAB Holding’s $500 donation bought them millions of dollars in business.

Moreover, Bao took thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from an oil company with a 5 figure IRS tax lien and a criminal record. If that wasn’t bad enough, he also gave them a tax break. Last year, AAA Oil requested that Garden Grove give them a multimillion-dollar tax break by re-negotiating their sales tax rebate. On September 8th 2015, the Garden Grove City Council was alerted to AAA Oil’s plan by a city consultant preparing an economic assessment of the deal.

Seeing an opportunity to line his pockets, Bao once again exploited city business for his personal gain and supported AAA Oil’s plan. Less than two weeks later, Bao’s congressional campaign reported receiving a $2,700 donation from AAA Oil’s owner, Efrain Davalos. Immediately following the June Primary, Davalos again donated $2,700 to Bao’s campaign.

Pay-to-play politics are par for the course for Bao Nguyen. While he publicly panders to LGBT groups, pro-cannabis donors, and ‘Berniecrats’, he underhandedly accepts monetary donations from and does the bidding of the special interests that his supporters vehemently oppose. This all just proves that as long as Bao gets paid, he’ll say or do anything.

For more information, please visit www.LouCorrea.com.