Rival lobs complaint against Nguyen

Councilman Tam Nguyen’s reelection opponent claims his private text messages were recorded during a contentious City Council meeting and leaked to the Vietnamese media by Nguyen — an accusation the councilman denies.

Chris Le filed an ethics complaint last month against Nguyen for “invasion of privacy” and “illegal wiretapping,” but an investigator found no violations related to city rules. The city’s ethics commission investigates complaints related to local election law.

In the complaint, Le says someone sitting in the back row at the Jan. 24 council meeting used a “high definition zoom camera” to record texts between himself and a friend. Le was among a small group who opposed Nguyen’s proposal to ban the flag of communist Vietnam on city property — a plan being discussed that evening.

Le claims Nguyen publicly released those messages — including his private contact information — at a news conference with the Vietnamese media on Feb. 15. Le also says he’s being intimidated for opposing the flag ban.

“He personally displayed the images of the smartphone on the projector and read aloud its contents,” Le wrote in his complaint. “Now, all of our private information and political text messages are published on social media such as Facebook, YouTube, blogs and online public forums.”

Nguyen said the complaint is politically motivated. Le, an Oakland tax auditor, is running for the District 7 council seat against Nguyen next fall. The councilman said he had no idea the slides of Le’s texts would be shown at the news conference.

“I walked up to the screen to read the small words and try to understand, and then helped translate it,” Nguyen said. “That’s the whole ball game of Chris Le. He’s desperately tried to gain notoriety, and some people are giving it to him.”

The investigator recommended the city’s Board of Fair Campaign and Political Practices — formerly the ethics commission — dismiss the complaint since it presents issues outside the panel’s jurisdiction.