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Dana Williamson, who served as California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff from 2022 to 2024, was arrested Wednesday and charged with multiple counts of bank and wire fraud, tax fraud, and obstruction of justice.

Williamson’s arrest was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

A 23-count federal indictment was unsealed Wednesday morning following Williamson’s arrest.

Prosecutors say she conspired to divert political funds for personal use, falsified tax filings, and attempted to obstruct a federal investigation.

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced the charges in a press statement, calling the indictment a major step in a three-year political corruption probe. ...

According to court documents, Williamson and her associates allegedly conspired between February 2022 and September 2024 to divert about $225,000 from a dormant political campaign account to an associate’s personal use.

Prosecutors claim the money was routed through several business entities and disguised as payments for “what was, in reality, a no-show job.”

Williamson, 53, is also accused of helping to fabricate backdated contracts after being subpoenaed in January 2024 by federal prosecutors investigating Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans tied to her business.

The indictment further alleges that Williamson filed false tax returns, claiming over $1 million in business deductions for what prosecutors say were “personal and nondeductible expenditures,” including luxury hotel stays, home furnishings, and private jet travel.

If convicted, Williamson could face decades in federal prison and substantial financial penalties.

Williamson served as Newsom’s top aide until December 2024, when the governor replaced her with Nathan Barankin.

The Sacramento Bee plastered a tantalizing story with the headline, “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff arrested in FBI public corruption probe.” Outside the courthouse yesterday afternoon, a reporter asked one arrested staffer what we were all thinking: “Should Governor Gavin Newsom be concerned, Ms. Williamson?”




Dana Williamson, 53, served Governor French Laundry as his chief of staff between 2022 and December 2024. Dana is a quintessential swamp creature. (They caught a whole nest of swamp creatures, in fact.)

Before Newsom, Ms. Williamson had served as a cabinet member and senior advisor to two more Governors, Gray Davis and Jerry Brown. She’s been a “senior aide” to top federal officials, including former Attorney General Xavier Becerra (a current California gubernatorial candidate). She’s helped run some of the highest-profile progressive ballot initiatives in the Golden State.

Insiders called Williamson “Newsom’s political assassin” because she suppressed thorny political situations and manhandled hard-nosed SEIU labor groups at the Capitol. “She loves to play bad cop,” one consultant said. She’s been a bulldog on social media, savaging rivals on her Twitter feed (now defunct).

“Within the governor’s broader orbit,” one Politico article said, “where aides and advisers mostly play nice, Williamson carried many of Newsom’s grudges for him, even as she continued to nurse some of her own.”

“She gives zero f—ks, which is part of what makes her so great,” said Anthony York, Newsom’s former communications director. That quality may come in handy soon. In a June, 2024, text thread from the unsealed indictment, Williamson threatened to retaliate against a private citizen who had sought public records about her:

Co-Conspirator 2: Yeah. Ugh. Fuk her. They don't really know who they are messing with.
WILLIAMSON: They really don't. It's bad for them.

But Williamson suddenly “stepped down” from her Chief of Staff job last December. At the time, media reported the major shakeup and toppling of a longtime political power broker as a “long-expected” staff shuffle. However, in hindsight, it must have been because someone peached to Williamson or Newsom that she was under DOJ investigation, or was soon likely to be.

Yesterday, the DOJ arrested three thorny swamp critters, including Williamson, former Becerra chief of staff Sean McCluskie, and political consultant Greg Campbell. McCluskie is a self-described “healthcare expert,” a JD/PhD with degrees from G.W.U. and U. Maryland. He was Chief Deputy Attorney General under Becerra in California, then went to Washington as Becerra’s Chief of Staff during the entire pandemic 2021-2025.

In other words, as HHS Secretary Becerra’s Chief of Staff, McCluskie was probably responsible for 90% of federal covid policy. Unfortunately for Williamson, McCluskie took a plea deal and admitted all the DOJ’s alleged facts.

The third arrestee, Greg Campbell, is a veteran California “political strategist,” with a long history in state policy and politics, tirelessly working to elect Democrat leaders and pass ballot initiatives. In 2015, the San Francisco Chronicle called him “California’s unelected power broker.”

According to court documents, Campbell helped “facilitate the flow of funds” and cover up the fraudulent arrangements designed to benefit McCluskie. Campbell pleaded guilty yesterday, and said he “takes full accountability for his actions and is cooperating fully with the legal process.”

Cooperating fully. That’s bad news for everyone else. “The news today of formal accusations of impropriety by a long-serving trusted advisor are a gut punch,” former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Also named, but not arrested, was former California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Alexis Podesta, who is also said to be cooperating. I couldn’t confirm whether she’s related to Clinton creature John Podesta or not.

DOJ accuses the conspirators of siphoning money from dormant campaign accounts and using the money to enrich themselves. The Feds alleged that they: created “no-show” jobs for McCluskie’s wife; falsified documents and contracts to get covid relief (PPP) loans for Williamson’s personal LLC; and filed fraudulent tax returns that claimed over $1 million in personal expenses as business deductions— including luxury handbags (e.g., a $15,353 Chanel purse and a $5,818 Fendi wallet), jewelry, home repairs, private jet travel, super-luxe Mexican vacations ($120K+), and payments to relatives for various flimsy reasons.




In all, Williamson was charged with a whopping 23 counts —not on par with Trump’s 34 counts, but still— including: Conspiracy, Wire and Bank Fraud, Obstruction, False Tax Returns, and False Statements. Here is a link to the DOJ’s indictment.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/media/1417121/dl?inline=

Reporting from yesterday’s proceedings, the LA Times reported, “Williamson initially remained composed, but could be heard softly crying as the case progressed.”

She pleaded not guilty. (Good luck! Since everyone else is cooperating!) The court ordered a $500,000 bond and required Williamson to surrender her passport. Williamson faces 73 years in prison and very large fines.

The DOJ’s and FBI Sacramento’s official statements about Dana Williamson’s indictment reference “three years of relentless investigative work,” and stress an ongoing partnership with the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division. The DOJ has not yet closed the case. More defendants or charges are possible as the investigation progresses, which is why the reporter asked Williamson whether Gavin should be worried.

There’s reason to think the Feds have been looking at Newsom. The LA Times reported that Williamson said federal authorities approached her over a year ago seeking help with a probe of the governor. She declined to help.

One suspects that, had Pam Bondi not deleted the DOJ’s “public ethics” office in DC, this case would never have seen the light of day. Media critics laughably cried that closing the office would mean fewer corruption cases, but the opposite seems to be the case. Either way, Dems can’t complain about retaliation, since this investigation began during the Biden Administration.

Wait! There’s more.

Quid pro quo! Yesterday, the California Globe ran a story headlined, “Arizona Governor Facing Racketeering Probe Runs From the Media.”

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is investigating allegations of a “pay-to-play” scheme involving Governor Katie Hobbs (D), her inauguration fund, the Arizona Democratic Party, and a murky NGO called Sunshine Residential Homes.

In December 2022, Sunshine Residential Homes requested but was denied a rate increase under its group foster home grant. Three days after that denial, Sunshine donated $100,000 to Hobbs’s inauguration campaign as a “gold sponsor.” A few months later, the company was blessed with a +60% rate increase worth +$4 million a year— promoting it to highest-paid provider in the system. By a lot.

Sunshine Homes is not particularly. As recently as last Christmas, a diabetic 9-year-old boy died at Sunshine’s group home under troubling circumstances. Sunshine claimed the nine-year-old “refused to take his insulin.” Arizona’s Department of Child Safety issued a licensing violation— a bureaucratic slap on the wrist. Not even time out.

People have questions.

In all, just in the last election cycle, Sunshine paid an even $400K to Hobbs and the Arizona Democrat Party. Multiple sources confirmed that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, and the Arizona auditor general have opened at least two separate investigations.

It will be hard (but perhaps not impossible) to sweep this under the rug, since the case sits at the intersection of a whole bunch of high-profile issues. Does Governor Hobbs, like Governor Newsom, have reason to be concerned?