Newsom’s former chief of staff charged with allegedly stealing campaign funds from ex-HHS secretary
By CBS Bay Area
Dana Williamson, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, was indicted on federal charges alleging she was involved in a scheme to steal campaign money from former federal Health Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The federal indictment lists four other co-conspirators. It alleges that Williamson, 53, 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.
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.
McCluskie signed a plea agreement on 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. His attorney, Daniel Olmos, declined to comment.
According to the indictment unsealed on Wednesday, Williamson 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.
“Ms. Williamson no longer serves in this administration,” Newsom’s office said in a statement. “While we are still learning details of the allegations, the Governor expects all public servants to uphold the highest standards of integrity.”
The indictment goes on to claim Williamson subscribed to false tax returns, claiming more than $1 million in business deductions that prosecutors said were for personal and nondeductible expenditures, like private jet travel, hotel stays, home furnishings and designer handbags.
Williamson went on to make false statements when questioned by FBI agents about the diversion of campaign funds and allegations of public corruption, prosecutors said.
“This is a crucial step in an ongoing political corruption investigation that began more than three years ago,” U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said. “As it always has, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to protect the people of California from political corruption.”
Williamson faces 23 charges, including conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct justice, subscribing to false tax returns and making false statements, prosecutors said. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.
At Wednesday’s court hearing, Williamson pleaded not guilty and was released under certain conditions, including surrendering her passport. She is also prohibited from contacting any of the co-conspirators. She is scheduled to reappear in court on Dec. 11.
She was a Cabinet secretary for former Gov. Jerry Brown before opening her own political affairs firm.
McCluskie sought funds after taking 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.
Campbell’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
