Orange County supervisor removed from committee appointments amid scandal

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was removed from all committee and board appointments by his colleagues Tuesday, as the embattled politician faces growing calls for him to resign amid a looming federal probe.

The five-member board of supervisors can’t remove Do from his elected seat, but it was able to remove him from committee assignments in a unanimous vote. The move was was the first action against Do by the board since it was revealed he directed and voted for millions of dollars in contracts toward a nonprofit group linked to his daughter without disclosing her involvement.

Do has not responded publicly to the growing calls from colleagues, local politicians and former supporters to resign.

“Supervisor Do betrayed the people of Orange County, cannot represent our county regionally, and should resign immediately,” Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley posted on X shortly after the board’s vote Tuesday.

Do was removed from positions he held at the National Association of Counties, Orange County Corrections Partnership, Orange County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Orange County Emergency Management Council, Orange County Transportation Authority and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Do did not immediately respond to a request for comment through his staff.

Calls for Do to resign came after Orange County filed a lawsuit against a nonprofit, Viet America Society, alleging the group and its top executives “brazenly plundered” millions of dollars in taxpayer money.

“VAS cannot account for where the money went, when and where it was spent, and/or whether it was spent on contract purposes,” the lawsuit states.

The county lawsuit also alleges executives at VAS, including Do’s daughter, Rhiannon Do, pocketed more than $10 million in county contracts that were meant for VAS to feed the elderly and needy during the pandemic.

Instead, the lawsuit alleges VAS transferred money to its chief executive, Peter Ahn Pham, its secretary, Dinh Mai, and to Do’s daughter. The three then bought properties in Garden Grove, Buena Park, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Tustin.

Rhiannon Do, a third-year law student, purchased a three-bedroom home in Tustin in July 2023 valued at $1,035,000.

Attorneys for VAS, Pham and Do have denied any wrongdoing, and allege the organization was guilty only of sloppy recordkeeping.

Attorneys have said the contracts to feed people during the pandemic were done, and denied the allegations made in the lawsuit.

LAist was first to report in November about Do directing millions of dollars toward VAS during the pandemic without disclosing his daughter’s ties to the group.

Days after the county’s lawsuit was filed, federal agents with the FBI, IRS, and investigators with the Orange County District Attorney’s office served multiple search warrants at the homes of Andrew Do, his daughter, and VAS CEO Peter Ahn Pham.

Among the locations searched were homes that were allegedly purchased after VAS executives “plundered” county money.

Andrew Do was not named in the lawsuit.

Federal officials have declined to provide details about their investigation.