Programming note: We’ll be off this Thursday and Friday for the Fourth of July but will be back in your inboxes on Monday. We hope you have a fantastic Independence Day! DRIVING THE DAY: In a late call with lawmakers on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom scrapped his last-minute push to put a second crime-fighting measure before voters this fall, making a dramatic about-face hours before he heads to Washington to defend Joe Biden. Read more about it here... THE BUZZ: JUST ACQUAINTANCES — The scion of a prominent waste-hauler family at the center of recent FBI raids in Oakland, has portrayed a close, almost familial connection with Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, who is widely expected to launch a run for governor. “Uncle Assemblyman Rob Bonta,” reads the caption of a 2017 photo Andy Duong posted online of the then-state lawmaker holding Duong’s infant daughter. Bonta’s campaign says the relationship is much simpler. “He was a donor to his campaigns,” spokesperson Nathan Click said in an email Tuesday. Bonta’s camp this week said the AG is giving away all of the campaign contributions that the Duongs and their associates have ever contributed to him — $155,100 in total — out of “an abundance of caution.” But he didn’t explain why Bonta resumed taking contributions from the family last year after returning money from them in 2021 due to “a pending DOJ matter from before he took office" — other than to note that the case had concluded. Bonta’s office said the issue in question was a Duong relative's conviction on a felony charge related to Medi-Cal fraud, which was reduced to a misdemeanor following a plea deal. Photos on Andy Duong's social media profile show him and Bonta posing courtside at a Golden State Warriors game, grinning with former pro boxer Manny Pacquiao both at his Los Angeles mansion and in what appears to be the back of a limousine, along with Bonta’s wife, Assemblymember Mia Bonta. FBI officials haven’t disclosed the nature of the recent raids targeting the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and three properties associated with the Duong family, which owns California Waste Solutions. But the case that has upended Oakland politics has also drawn attention to Bonta, California's top prosecutor. Rival campaigns in the 2026 governor’s race are already circulating the photos of Bonta with Duong — an early indicator of how the relationship could play in the fiercely competitive contest. Those images aren’t the only documented ties between Duong and Bonta. Among the public records naming Bonta and the Duongs: a 2018 letter Bonta signed onto as a state lawmaker representing the East Bay, urging San Jose to consider the Duongs’ company for a city contract. Bonta’s name also pops up as a target of the family’s campaign spending in a 2021 investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission into the Duongs’ fundraising practices. Click said the letter to San Jose officials, signed by four state lawmakers, was coordinated by Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus members. He said that Bonta’s only interest was “ensuring a minority and immigrant owned business based in his district was given fair consideration.” The Duongs have often spoken about their Vietnamese-American and immigrant heritage. The attorney general has not been accused of wrongdoing, and the Duongs have given money to numerous other Bay Area politicians. Duong's Instagram page features photos of him with countless political figures, from Newsom to Hillary Clinton. Duong is the son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong, who has built a large recycling business by contracting with cities in the Bay Area. In a 2016 email to his father that was cited in the 2021 Fair Political Practices Commission case, the younger Duong describes Bonta as a rising political star who’s willing to help the family. “He is one of the best ally to ever support and will deliver whatever we ask for when help needs [sic] in the future,” he wrote, referring to then-Assemblymember Bonta. Click dismissed the characterization: “That has never been true.” The FPPC case alleges that Andy Duong and the company used friends and acquaintances to get around donation limits, illegally funneling large contributions to Oakland City Council candidates. The Duongs have not been charged with a violation, though the FPPC’s case is still open, according to the commission. Andy Duong and his family’s company didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. Spokespeople for CWS have denied any wrongdoing in public statements. Meanwhile, Duong's social media posts are providing fodder for Bonta’s rivals. In a 2021 post congratulating Bonta after Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him AG, Duong describes watching his political career evolve over the years. He added, “Huge congratulation [sic] to you Brother! Cannot wait to see what else the future has to offer to you.” — with help from Christopher Cadelago and Melanie Mason GOOD MORNING. Happy Wednesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Heading out to Washington. More on that below...
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