Dana Williamson served as the governor’s top aide from 2022 to 2024.
SACRAMENTO, California — Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff Dana Williamson entered a not-guilty plea Wednesday to federal public corruption charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
Williamson, who served as the governor’s top aide from 2022 until 2024, is accused of helping funnel around $225,000 from a dormant campaign account apparently belonging to former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to Becerra’s former chief of staff Sean McCluskie.
She was arrested Wednesday and later appeared in federal court alongside attorney Matthew Rowan, where she appeared to cry throughout the proceedings. After some discussion, including Rowan’s assertion that his client was in “precarious” health, Judge Carolyn K. Delaney said Williamson would be released on a $500,000 bond under travel restrictions, with her house to be used as collateral.
Becerra, who is running for governor, is described only as an unnamed public official in court documents, but the size and timing of the payments and his employment of McCluskie indicate that he was the official targeted by the alleged crimes.
The indictment alleges that Williamson and another unnamed co-conspirator transferred money from Becerra’s state campaign account to the firm of longtime Sacramento lobbyist Greg Campbell for purported consulting services. Then, according to court documents, Campbell’s firm sent thousands of dollars a month to a third-party payroll provider, which paid McCluskie. The payments were disguised as pay for a no-show job supposedly performed by McCluskie’s spouse, according to the indictment.
Campbell and McCluskie entered plea agreements before the hearing.
Williamson is also accused of counting several personal purchases as tax-deductible business expenses. They included a new HVAC system for her house, a $15,000-plus Chanel handbag and ring, a $10,000 payment to one of her relatives, a $21,000 private jet trip, and a watch worth more than $9,000 for a close friend. She also deducted an $11,000 yacht rental along with luxury hotel stays during a birthday trip in Mexico, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors for the Eastern District of California also allege that Williamson lied to FBI agents about the scheme involving Becerra’s campaign money, and falsely claimed she had not fed inside information to a company regarding a lawsuit by the state of California.
Williamson was Cabinet secretary for Gov. Jerry Brown before she began working for Newsom. A spokesperson for the governor noted that Williamson no longer works in the Newsom administration.
“While we are still learning details of the allegations, the Governor expects all public servants to uphold the highest standards of integrity,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “At a time when the President is openly calling for his Attorney General to investigate his political enemies, it is especially important to honor the American principle of being innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of one’s peers.”
Williamson and McCluskie are also accused of intentionally misleading Becerra to believe money from his account was being sent to Williamson and her unnamed co-conspirator for campaign consulting services.
”The news today of formal accusations of impropriety by a long-serving trusted advisor are a gut punch,” Becerra said in a statement. “I have voluntarily cooperated with the US Department of Justice in their investigation, and will continue to do so. As California’s former Attorney General, I fully comprehend the importance of allowing this investigation and legal process to run its course through our justice system.”
The Sacramento Bee first reported on the indictment.