Yee was not the initial target of what has been described as a “massive sting operation” launched by the Justice Department centering on Bay Area politics. Instead, he was only ensnared in a bribery probe involving a fake, FBI-created software firm seeking government contracts, which led to the discovery of his other crimes.

Meanwhile, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon is building off the FBI’s probe with his own prosecutions. In late January, he announced that two former employees with the city’s Human Rights Commission had been arrested for allegedly trying to sell access to Mayor Ed Lee. Nazly Mohajer, a former agency commissioner, and Zula Jones, a former staffer, allegedly took $20,000 from an undercover agent.

Although he met with the undercover agent, Mayor Lee has strenuously denied any role in the alleged bribery and money-laundering. But the fact that Mohajer and Jones were taped discussing how to break the money into smaller amounts to surreptitiously pay off Lee’s 2011 campaign debts has added to the loud whispering campaign that suggests the San Francisco mayor may be the FBI’s — and/or Gascon’s — ultimate target.

The FBI’s initial target was Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, a leader of a San Francisco-based gang that had ties to Chinese business groups and politicians, including Lee. Chow was convicted in January on federal racketeering charges after his defense — claiming to be a reformed ex-criminal turned humanitarian and businessman — fell short.

It is not clear what sort of arrangement that the FBI and Gascon have — whether certain crimes will be prosecuted by the Justice Department and others by the San Francisco DA. But the most intense focus of the past month has been on Gascon’s attempts to keep a file of evidence related to the charges announced in January from being disclosed. He has so far persuaded a federal judge to keep it under wraps, arguing that its disclosure would reveal undercover agents and ruin promising corruption investigations.

“The evidence is a time bomb waiting to explode,” declared city Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who speculated that Lee or a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors might be implicated.

Lee appears to think he’s the target, or a target, of the investigations. According to campaign records, he spent $19,000 of his political funds last year on criminal defense attorneys. This year, he’s used allies to depict Gascon as launching a politically motivated smear effort.

Democratic strategist Nathan Ballard described Gascon as a craven publicity hound in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“If the DA has the goods on Mayor Lee, he already would have come out with it. There has never been one credibly sourced allegation of pay-to-play being brought forward,” Ballard told the Times.

But Gascon is winning plaudits from San Francisco’s alternative media, which has long seen the city as a hotbed of corruption and phony progressives.

The SF Weekly recently praised the Cuban-American DA for blasting Police Chief Greg Suhr — and Mayor Lee — for allegedly blocking attempts to reduce misconduct within San Francisco police ranks. The department has drawn sharp criticism since the Dec. 2 shooting death of stabbing suspect Mario Woods.

Though police had credible reason to believe Woods was armed and dangerous, cellphone video of him being shot as he walked away from officers has generated raucous protests.

Here are the Top 10 Quotes allegedly made by Yee and others, as quoted verbatim from the FBI’s 137-page criminal complaint. Some references are to his campaign, which he just quit, to be California’s secretary of state, which oversees all state elections.

10. Think Globally, Arms Deal Locally

Yee, allegedly on his expanding weapons trafficking business: “Because, I’m getting a little more into this, it’s not just Russia; the Muslim countries have sources too. And so, that has been brought to my attention recently.”

Yee: “I want to protect the entire enterprise.”

9. Chinatown Gangster: San Francisco politicians are dirty

Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow was previously convicted and jailed on other charges. In the new indictment, he allegedly told an undercover agent that, while San Francisco may look clean, the city was dirtier because of public corruption. Chow disapproved of San Francisco politicians.

Shrimp Boy: “If I’m into the game, I would step on them, I would nail those guys … all the people, they play the little dirty s— around me… Oh, I’m dirty too, you know, but I’m not dirty to my people.”

8. The Allure of Secretary of State?

Yee: “I’m just trying to run for secretary of state. I hope I don’t get indicted.”

7. Life imitates ‘The Wire’

The catch-phrase of “The Wire” TV show’s Clay Davis appears frequently in the indictment.

Yee: “$15k man, s—. For what we did man? S—. You know, we got him close to [State Senator 1].”

Yee: “There’s got to be some trust around here man, s—”

Yee: “S—, as much as I want that five thousand, I can’t do that man. S—. F—. S—.”

Yee: “S—. That’ s pay to play and you can’t do that. You cannot connect. You could go to jail for that . … They got to understand, it’ s about the long term. It ‘s not about the short term.”

Yee: On his possible election as mayor of San Francisco: “We control 6.8 billion, man. S—.” The number was the approximate size of the city’s budget at the time.

6. Psychoanalyze this: Because I’m unhappy as a child psychologist

When an undercover agent allegedly told Yee, a child psychologist, that Yee lived a great life, Yee allegedly responded that he was unhappy and thought about hiding out in the Philippines.

Yee: “There’s a part of me that wants to be like you. You know how I’m going to be like you? Just be a free agent there.”

5. It’s a marathon, not a sprint

Keith Jackson (not the sports announcer), the political operative who also was indicted, allegedly on the relationship: “You know, he just, he sees this as a long-term relationship and he don’t, he don’t you know, he don’t want to f— things up.”

4. Liberal SF Democrat driven by money

Allegedly Yee, who thought Africa was a largely untapped market for trade, was eager to get the goods and make money.

Yee: “Do I think we can make some money? I think we can make some money. Do I think we can get the goods? I think we can get the goods.”

3. Pillow talk for Capitol fundraisers

Yee: “Just give me the g—– money, man s— … you should just tell them, write some f—ing checks, man.”

2. Playing Mortal Kombat in the Philippines

Yee authored California’s ban on the sale of violent video games to children that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional. In the indictment, he allegedly said he was “agnostic” to working with a Muslim rebel group, which he knew to be responsible for “kidnapping individuals, killing individuals and extorting them for ransom.”

Yee: “People want to get whatever they want to get. Do I care? No, I don’t care.”

1. Which is better: 10 months or 8 years?

Yee: “I can be of help to you for 10 months or I can be of help to you for eight years. I think eight years is a lot better than 10 months.”

He wasn’t talking about time in federal prison.