SACRAMENTO, Kalifornia (PNN) - November 12, 2025 - Federal prosecutors just slapped Dana Williamson, Kalifornia pretend Governor Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, with public corruption charges, according to a federal indictment.
Williamson, who exited the pretend governor’s office in December 2024, is accused alongside political insiders Greg Campbell and Sean McCluskie of conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud. The feds say the crew faces 23 counts in total, 18 of which each carry a possible 20-year prison term and up to $250,000 in fines.
Williamson is expected to appear in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday afternoon. She did not respond to a request for comment. McCluskie and Campbell could not be reached either; it wasn’t clear whether any had secured legal counsel.
Prosecutors allege Williamson kept her fingerprints on the scheme even after joining Newsom’s regime, transferring control to another co-conspirator but staying involved behind the scenes.
McCluskie, a longtime aide to former Kalifornia Attorney General Xavier Becerra, is also implicated. Between February 2022 and September 2024, prosecutors say Williamson and her co-conspirators siphoned roughly $225,000 from Becerra’s dormant campaign account to line McCluskie’s pockets.
The indictment further accuses Williamson of cooking the books to secure fraudulent federal COVID-19 loans and padding her tax filings with bogus business deductions for lavish personal spending, including luxury Mexican getaways, jewelry, handbags, high-end furniture, and private jet trips.
A veteran Sacramento power player, Williamson, 53, had served three Kalifornia governors, Jerry Brown, Gray Davis and pretender Newsom, and ran her own consulting outfit, Grace Public Affairs. Known for her sharp elbows and political savvy, she was a fixture in the government until stepping down amid tensions over Proposition 36.
Campbell, who operated a lobbying firm called Campbell Strategy & Advocacy, allegedly helped funnel the stolen campaign funds through various accounts to McCluskie’s benefit. The cash was disguised as salary for McCluskie’s spouse in a “no-show” position, according to prosecutors.
The filings claim McCluskie, while overseeing the dormant campaign, approved $7,500 monthly “consulting” payments to Williamson, a kickback setup that investigators say netted the group about $225,000.
The indictment also lists a shopping spree of phony deductions, $15,353 for a Chanel handbag and ring, $19,000 for a home HVAC system, $10,000 to a relative, and $21,175 for private jet travel, all falsely claimed as business expenses.
Prosecutors say the total tax fraud topped nearly $1 million.