SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former top aide to California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been indicted on federal charges alleging her involvement in a scheme to steal campaign money from former federal Health Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Dana Williamson was arrested and appeared in court Wednesday in Sacramento. She pleaded not guilty to all charges, and a judge ordered her released from custody.
The federal indictment lists four other co-conspirators. It alleges that Williamson developed a plan with Sean McCluskie, a longtime Becerra aide, to siphon money from one of Becerra’s dormant state campaign accounts to give to McCluskie to pad his salary after he accepted a job as his chief of staff in Washington.
McCluskie signed a plea agreement Oct. 30 in which he admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, according to court filings. He agreed to pay back the $225,000 he took from the account.
McCluskie’s attorney Daniel Olmos declined to comment.
Becerra is a former member of Congress who was appointed California attorney general in 2017 to fill a vacancy and reelected in 2018 with Williamson running his campaign. Former President Joe Biden later appointed him as secretary of Health and Human Services, and he is now running for California governor in next year’s election. He is not implicated in the indictment.
“The news today of formal accusations of impropriety by a long-serving trusted advisor are a gut punch,” Becerra said in a statement, adding that he voluntarily cooperated with the Department of Justice in its investigation and will continue doing so.
Williamson allegedly orchestrated plan before taking job with Newsom
According to the indictment, she began helping McCluskie in April 2022 by using her political consulting company to bill Becerra’s campaign account for purported services. The money would then be sent to McCluskie’s wife for work supposedly done for Williamson.
When Williamson prepared to join Newsom’s office in late 2022, she is said to have arranged for “Co-Conspirator 2” — an unnamed former public official — to take over her role in the scheme.
Williamson told the Los Angeles Times that year that she planned to sever financial ties to her company while working for the governor. However the indictment includes details of emails, calls, and meetings between her and McCluskie regarding the alleged scheme and cover-up while she was Newsom’s chief of staff, a position she held until late 2024.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Newsom said: “Ms. Williamson no longer serves in this administration. While we are still learning details of the allegations, the Governor expects all public servants to uphold the highest standards of integrity.”
Williamson is a longtime Democratic power player in Sacramento known for her savvy and aggressive style, often unafraid to spar publicly and privately with those who disagree with her. She was a Cabinet secretary for former Gov. Jerry Brown before opening her own political affairs firm and later rejoined state government as Newsom’s chief of staff.
Indictment says luxury handbags, vacations claimed as business deductions
Williamson faces 23 charges including some involving the falsification of business contracts related to Paycheck Protection Program loans that her business received during the COVID-19 pandemic. She allegedly asked a co-conspirator to create a retroactive contract saying her company provided services to his company so she would be eligible for the loans and loan forgiveness.
The indictment accuses Williamson of filing fraudulent tax forms for her business from 2021 to 2023 claiming more than $1 million in business deductions for personal expenses, including luxury handbags and jewelry; private jet travel; vacations in Mexico; installation of a home HVAC system; and several hundred thousand dollars paid to various relatives for fake jobs.
She could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
During her court appearance, Williamson wore a large gray coat with black glasses and had her hair pulled back in a bun. At one point she appeared to tear up after answering “yes” to questions from Judge Carolyn Delaney. Matthew Rowan, her attorney, declined to comment further.
The investigation began under the Biden administration more than three years ago, FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel said in a statement.
McCluskie sought funds after taking $180,000 pay cut
The scheme began after McCluskie agreed to take the job as Becerra’s chief of staff in 2022, a role that resulted in a pay cut of roughly $180,000, according to his plea agreement.
The FBI recorded and surveilled a meeting between Williamson and two other co-conspirators in July 2024, according to the plea deal. One unnamed co-conspirator who took over handling the payments from Williamson said she did not want to continue. The three discussed how to end the arrangement so as not to attract attention.
Several days later two of the people involved met, and one acknowledged that the arrangement was “always set up to be somewhat icky” and amounted to “laundering money,” according to the plea deal. The co-conspirator handling the payments stopped making them shortly after. Several weeks later, McCluskie asked for the payments to resume while he tried to find a job outside the federal government. He said the money helped pay for plane tickets to fly back and forth between California and Washington.
The other named co-conspirator was lobbyist Greg Campbell. He also signed a plea deal admitting to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Campbell used his company as a conduit for the campaign money to obscure that it was going to McCluskie’s wife.
Todd Pickles, Campbell’s attorney, said he “takes full accountability for his actions and is cooperating fully with the legal process.” He added that the charges do not involve any lobbying or advocacy work by Campbell on behalf of any client.
As part of her conditions for release, Williamson will have to surrender her passport and is prohibited from consuming alcohol or drugs. She also cannot contact any of the co-conspirators. Her lawyer said in court that her health is in a “precarious situation” but did not give details.
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Ding reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles contributed.
By TRÂN NGUYỄN AND JAIMIE DING
Associated Press
