Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed his former chief of staff Dana Williamson’s guilty plea in a federal corruption case, calling her actions “just wrong” and denying he is implicated in any way.
“I just literally, as I was in the elevator someone mentioned it,” Newsom said after wrapping up a speech laying out California’s upcoming budget.
“It’s hard, I just think of her daughter, but I”m also mindful of accountability,” Newsom said.
Williamson pled guilty to counts of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, subscribing to a false tax return and making false statements at Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento Thursday.
The Sacramento power broker, who was Newsom’s chief of staff from 2022 to 2024, was charged in November 2025 with 23 counts in what prosecutors called a scheme to skim $225,000 from a dormant campaign account of Xavier Becerra.
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All other charges will be dropped as part of the plea deal.
“We’ve all got to be held to the letter of the law,” he said.
Asked about her admission of lying to the FBI, which took place when she was working in Newsom’s office, the governor said, “that was wrong.”
While she was chief of staff, Williamson passed along private information about litigation to help her former business partners — then lied about it to the FBI, according to her plea deal.
“Williamson’s criminal activity, by concealing the nature of the conduit scheme, denying the backdating of contracts, and hiding Williamson’s involvement in passing information to former clients and business partners to give them an advantage in litigation against the state,” the document read.
Read Williamson’s plea deal here.
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“We have high ethical standards and that’s just wrong, period,” Newsom said.
The governor added that he has “no concern” he’ll be implicated in the corruption probe, per the Sacramento Bee.
William’s two named accomplices in the case — Sean McCluskie, Becerra’s former chief of staff, and lobbyist Greg Campbell — also pled guilty to charges related to the theft of funds.
Williamson’s sentencing hearing is set for July 9.
She faces a maximum sentence of more than 30 years in prison, plus hefty fines, for the three counts to which she pled guilty, according to court documents.
