California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has just been implicated in a major corruption scandal.
Newsom’s former chief of staff was arrested Wednesday on federal corruption charges.
Dana Williamson, 53, faces a 23-count indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct justice, filing false tax returns, and making false statements to federal investigators.
Authorities say Williamson stole $225,000 from a political campaign and defrauded the government with lavish personal expenses.
“This is a crucial step in an ongoing political corruption investigation that began more than three years ago,” U.S. Attorney Eric Grant of the Eastern District of California 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.”
The indictment claims Williamson conspired with Sean McCluskie, former chief of staff to then-Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, to funnel money from a dormant Becerra campaign account to McCluskie for personal use between February 2022 and September 2024.
According to prosecutors, Williamson billed consulting services to Becerra’s dormant campaign account while McCluskie authorized the payments. The money passed through several accounts before landing in an account controlled by McCluskie.
Beginning in early 2022, Williamson allegedly paid $10,000 per month to a company controlled by co-conspirators that then paid the sum to a bank account McCluskie controlled. The payments were disguised as income to McCluskie’s spouse for work supposedly done for Williamson, even though McCluskie’s spouse did not do any work for Williamson, the indictment states.
When Williamson prepared to join Newsom’s office later that year, she arranged for an unnamed former public official to take over her role in the scheme, authorities said.
The indictment also accuses Williamson of falsely claiming more than $1.7 million in fraudulent business expenses on her taxes. Prosecutors say she wrote off personal luxuries including a $15,000 Chanel bag, a chartered jet, and a nearly $170,000 birthday trip to Mexico.
“Disguising personal luxuries as business expenses — especially to claim improper tax deductions or to willfully file fraudulent tax returns — is a serious criminal offense with severe consequences,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen.
The indictment includes details of emails, calls, and meetings between Williamson and McCluskie regarding the alleged corruption scheme and cover-up while she was Newsom’s chief of staff, a position she held until late 2024.
Williamson is a longtime Democratic power player in Sacramento. When she left office in December 2024, Newsom praised her in a statement and said he would miss her “insight, tenacity and big heart.”
A Newsom spokesperson distanced the governor from his former aide Wednesday.
“Ms. Williamson no longer serves in this administration,” Newsom’s spokesperson said. “While we are still learning details of the allegations, the governor expects all public servants to uphold the highest standards of integrity.”
“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.”
Prosecuting attorney Michael Anderson said prosecutors will hand over more than 27,000 pages of documents and an additional 750 gigabytes of evidence related to the case as part of the discovery process.
Williamson made her first court appearance Wednesday in Sacramento federal court.