A former chief of staff to Gov. Gavin Newsom pleaded guilty in connection with a political corruption scandal involving stolen campaign funds, fraud and false statements.
Dana Williamson was indicted in November 2025 and accused of multiple crimes, one being a scheme to funnel $225,000 from an inactive political campaign account belonging to Xavier Becerra. Becerra was a former California attorney general and the former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden, and he is now running to become California's governor.
As part of a plea agreement, the counts against her were reduced from 23 to 3. Court documents show they were conspiring to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, subscribing to a false tax return, and knowingly making false statements "within the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
