As California moves through its governor’s race, a legal case involving a former top Democratic political aide is now colliding with the political campaign for Xavier Becerra, a high-profile Democrat and former federal Health and Human Services secretary. Dana Williamson entered a guilty plea Thursday in Sacramento to charges that include conspiracy tied to an alleged scheme to steal campaign funds connected to Becerra’s time as the federal health secretary.
In the plea agreement, Williamson admitted to three counts out of 23 with which she was initially charged, according to the terms read into court. The case has drawn fresh attention to Becerra as voting is underway and set to conclude June 2, with several of his rivals using the scandal at a televised debate Thursday night. Becerra responded to the accusations, telling viewers to “Accept the facts,” and said he has not been implicated.
Williamson’s plea deal lays out the potential maximum penalties for the bank fraud count included in the case. The agreement states the bank fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. But Williamson’s defense attorney, McGregor Scott, said he expected the outcome to be no more than three years based on federal sentencing guidelines, and Scott said he plans to argue for even less than that.
Prosecutors’ federal indictment alleged Williamson developed the plan with co-conspirators including Sean McCluskie, a longtime aide associated with Becerra. The alleged scheme involved siphoning money from one of Becerra’s dormant state campaign accounts and directing it to McCluskie, prosecutors said, to help pad McCluskie’s salary after he accepted a job as Becerra’s chief of staff in Washington.
McCluskie, for his part, has already resolved his role in the scheme. Court filings described in the plea materials say McCluskie signed a plea agreement Oct. 30 in which he admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, and he agreed to pay back $225,000 taken from the account. Scott said McCluskie dreamed up the theft scheme amid financial difficulties and that Williamson became involved because she wanted to help him out of a “tough spot,” telling reporters: “She was simply trying to help a friend in a pinch as best she could.”
The indictment also described other allegations facing Williamson, including accusations involving the filing of fraudulent tax forms for her business from 2021 to 2023. Prosecutors alleged the business deductions she claimed included personal expenses such as luxury handbags and jewelry, private jet travel, vacations in Mexico, and the installation of a home HVAC system, along with several hundred thousand dollars paid to relatives for what prosecutors described as fake jobs.
Becerra, who previously served as California attorney general after being appointed in 2017 and reelected in 2018 with Williamson running his campaign, has not commented publicly on the plea agreement, the report said. In November, he described “accusations of impropriety by a long-serving trusted adviser” as a “gut punch” while saying he has not been implicated. The case also made clear that Gavin Newsom has not been implicated, and Becerra’s political opponents have continued to highlight the matter as they seek to define his fitness for office during the campaign’s final stretch.
Williamson has long been described as an influential Democratic power player in Sacramento with a reputation for an aggressive style in public and private. Before joining Becerra’s campaign circle, she served in senior roles in state government under Gov. Jerry Brown and later reopened her own political affairs firm before returning to government as Newsom’s chief of staff.