Gavin Newsom’s ex-aide Dana Williamson pleads guilty

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former top aide Dana Williamson pled guilty to federal fraud and tax charges after reaching a deal with prosecutors.

Williamson, who was Newsom’s chief of staff from 2022 and 2024 and a top Sacramento power broker, appeared at Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento Thursday to enter her guilty plea to counts of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, subscribing to a false tax return and making false statements.

Williamson was arrested in November 2025 in what prosecutors called a scheme to bilk $225,000 from a dormant campaign account to pay for personal expenses.

She was slapped with a sweeping 23-count federal indictment alleging conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, defrauding the United States, obstructing justice, filing false tax returns, and lying to authorities, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

Remaining counts will be dismissed, according to court documents detailing the plea deal.

Prosecutors described Williamson as ringleader of a plan to siphon funds from a dormant campaign account of Xavier Becerra, a former attorney general of California who’s now a leading candidate for governor.

Sean McCluskie, Becerra’s former chief of staff, and lobbyist Greg Campbell were also charged. McCluskie and Campbell pled guilty to charges related to the theft of funds.

Williamson — who ran a public affairs firm and advised California heavyweights like Govs. Jerry Brown and Gray Davis — also allegedly falsely claimed personal expenses as business deductions, including a $150,000 trip to Mexico for her birthday and tens of thousands on Chanel and Fendi bags and an HVAC system for her home.

Williamson is also accused of funneling the money to Sean McCluskie, Becerra’s former chief of staff.

The co-conspirators grifted campaign funds to pay for a no-show job for McCluskie’s wife after Becerra was appointed head of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden, according to prosecutors.

Williamson ran her own consulting firm, Grace Public Affairs, and served as a senior aide to a string of California heavyweights, including Govs. Jerry Brown and Gray Davis.

Newsom was not named in the filings.

The corruption scandal has dogged Becerra, who’s leading the field in the California governor’s race.

The longtime California poll has denied knowledge of his former aide’s activities and repeatedly faced uncomfortable questions about his ties to the probe.

After whether he is certain he isn’t implicated in the scandal, Becerra said after a rally Monday that he’s “moving forward” and “everyone will be accountable for their actions.”

“We feel very comfortable and confident about this election,” he said.

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