The recent indictment of Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) former chief of staff jolted one of the nation’s most influential Democratic power centers, exposing long-standing patterns of corruption within its ranks.
Political powerbroker Dana Williamson, one of California‘s most sought-after Democratic consultants both before and after she ran Newsom’s office, was charged on 23 counts, including conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct justice.
She was also accused of writing off $1 million in vacations, a Chanel purse and ring, a $10,000 payment to a relative, and private jet trips as business expenses on her federal income tax returns. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered released on a $500,000 bond.
Two of her longtime associates, Greg Campbell, a former high-level staffer in the California Assembly, and Sean McCluskie, an aide to former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, were charged with related crimes and are expected to plead guilty.
Federal court documents allege that, unknown to Becerra, who is running for governor of California, McCluskie stole $225,000 worth of Becerra’s dormant campaign funds for his personal use.
Few people in California politics have accumulated as much influence or as many haters as Williamson did while serving two governors — Newsom and former Gov. Gerry Brown (D-CA) — and branding herself as the ultimate go-to in Sacramento.
She’s often been described as aggressive, combative, and obsessed with power and settling scores.
“Dana has a reputation for being reckless, for being irresponsible, and for being a bully,” Gil Duran, an author who has crossed paths with Williamson on several occasions, told CNN. “She was somebody who loved power and loved to abuse power.”
Duran and two other Sacramento-based political operatives told the Washington Examiner that Williamson often bragged and laughed about getting people fired, something mentioned in the 34-page indictment against her.
Duran detailed a disturbing incident that took place a few years ago.
“I was offered a job, and Dana called my prospective employer and told them that if they hired me, they would be dead to the governor’s office,” he said. “I got that job anyway, but this was how she operated, like a mafia boss, and now she’s being treated like a mafia boss.”
Newsom ‘asleep at the wheel’
Critics of Newsom have accused the outgoing governor, who is eyeing a 2028 White House bid, of being asleep at the wheel while Williamson ran amok.
“Fifteen years of Democrat one-party rule have rotted California’s government from the inside out,” Steve Hilton, a Republican running for California governor, told the Washington Examiner. “The indictment of Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff is not an isolated scandal. It is the predictable outcome of a corrupt Democrat political machine that thinks the rules do not apply to them. When the people running the state operate without accountability, complacency becomes entitlement and entitlement becomes corruption.”
Duran also faulted Newsom, Brown, and Becerra, saying they “should be ashamed of their terrible lapse of judgment.”
“The only reason Dana Williamson acted the way she did for so many years, and what led to this situation, was that she felt she could act with impunity,” he added. “And she felt she could act with impunity because of the power she was given, despite the very obvious problems with her behavior that were apparent for years.”
Newsom told the Sacramento Bee this week that news of Williamson’s arrest came as a “real surprise and shock.” The governor was at a United Nations climate summit in Brazil when he was told of the indictment against her. Newsom said his office was first made aware there was an FBI investigation into her a year ago.
“As soon as we found out about it [the FBI investigation], my legal folks came over and we moved to place her on leave,” he said. “My hope was, over the course of last year, that whatever this was, I wasn’t privy to the details, it would be worked out.”
The U.S. attorney’s office last week described its indictment of Williamson as part of an investigation, although it’s unclear what else federal officials are focused on.
Newsom’s office said the governor is not involved in the case against Williamson. None of the charging documents released in the cases against Williamson or her cohorts mentions Newsom.
Williamson, who appeared to cry throughout her initial court appearance, has another court hearing next month.
If she is convicted of all the charges against her she faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud; up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of conspiracy to obstruct and making a false statement; and up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine for each count of subscribing to a false tax return.
FBI ARRESTS FORMER NEWSOM CHIEF OF STAFF ON PUBLIC CORRUPTION CHARGES
Steven Maviglio, a Democratic strategist, cautioned against jumping to conclusions.
“First of all, no one has been found guilty of anything,” he told the Washington Examiner, adding that allegations of corruption are “pretty weak coming from Republicans, when the Trump administration is knee-deep in ethical challenges far worse than what is being alleged in California.”
