Gavin Newsom's former chief of staff was longtime Capitol fixture before arrest

Lia Russell, The Sacramento Bee on Nov 12, 2025

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Sacramento was stunned Wednesday at the news, first reported by The Sacramento Bee, that FBI agents had arrested Dana Williamson, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former top aide, in a public corruption probe that charges her and two others with conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud.

Williamson, 53, was a powerful player for years in Sacramento political circles with her own firm, Grace Public Affairs, before she joined the Newsom administration as chief of staff in 2022. During her two years in the governor’s mansion, she was known for her abrasive communication and managerial style, and brokered some of Newsom’s most high-profile legislative deals.

She has worked as an adviser to numerous top California Democrats, including former Govs. Gray Davis and Jerry Brown. According to the 23-count indictment, Williamson conspired with Greg Campbell and Sean McCluskie to funnel campaign donations from accounts linked to former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, whose 2018 campaign Williamson led.

Williamson and Campbell, a consultant who was also a longtime Sacramento political fixture, were part of the Collaborative Company together, a hub of lobbyists and consultants with ties to Newsom and other high-profile Democrats. That includes Alexis Podesta, a longtime lobbyist who is included in the indictment as an unnamed co-conspirator, according to her attorney Bill Portnova.

Becerra, former President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services Secretary, is now running for California governor. In a statement, Becerra called the news that Williamson, Campbell, and McCluskie – his aide of nearly 20 years – had plotted to divert around $225,000 from his dormant state political campaign for McCluskie’s personal use “a gut punch.”

“I have voluntarily cooperated with the U.S. Department of Justice in their investigation, and will continue to do so,” Becerra said. “As California’s former Attorney General, I fully comprehend the importance of allowing this investigation and legal process to run its course through our justice system.”

Williamson pleaded not guilty in her first court appearance Wednesday and was released on $500,000 bond. She is also accused of lying to the FBI and filing false tax returns by claiming $1 million in business deductions that were in fact for personal use, such as private jet travel, stays at luxury resorts, designer handbags and jewelry, and home furniture.

Williamson declined to speak to reporters outside the courthouse after she entered her plea.

As chief of staff, she was instrumental in brokering some of Newsom’s highest-profile agreements, like a 2023 legislative bill requiring oil companies to submit monthly reports about their profits, sales and other information to prevent price gouging.

Williamson was also the architect of other deals like a carveout in a 2024 bill that exempted a handful of Panera Bread restaurants owned by Newsom ally Greg Flynn from paying its workers a newly enacted $20 -per-hour minimum wage.

A state attorney who later resigned also accused the governor’s office, led by Williamson at the time, of interfering in a sexual harassment lawsuit the Department of Fair Employment and Housing brought against the gaming company Activision Blizzard. And Williamson sparred with proponents of Proposition 36, a successful ballot initiative enforcing harsher penalties for petty crime, who wanted the governor to support it.

One Capitol consultant who requested anonymity to preserve his professional relationships, called Williamson an “enforcer” who got people to acquiesce to her wishes by screaming at people, often over the phone.

“She loves playing bad cop,” he said, citing Williamson’s reputation for feuding with politicians, staff and advocates. Another person who worked in the Capitol joked that he was sad when she closed her X account, where she often feuded with people online in late-night tirades.

Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio told The Bee the news was “totally shocking.” Maviglio said he’d known both Campbell and Williamson for more than two decades, and described them both as “down-to-earth people”

“They know the rules, so that’s why it’s particularly shocking,” he said, adding that the news had lit up phone screens throughout the Capitol community after The Bee first published its story around midday Wednesday.

“You have to wonder if this is politically motivated, for starters. Under this administration, you don’t know anymore.”

According to a statement from U.S. Attorney Eric Grant, the case was opened more than three years ago, in 2022, during the Biden administration. Agents first approached Williamson in fall 2024, after which Newsom’s office said it placed her on leave before she left that November.

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(The Bee Capitol Bureau’s Kate Wolffe contributed to this story.)

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