XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: gary730@blackrot.com   
      
   The federal grand jury indictment accuses Williamson and four other   
   co-conspirators, including Becerra’s former chief of staff, of funneling   
   $225,000 in money from a dormant campaign account. Williamson is also   
   accused of falsely claiming more than $1.7 million in fraudulent   
   business expenses on her taxes, for a $15,000 Chanel bag, a chartered   
   jet and a nearly $170,000 birthday trip to Mexico.   
      
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   Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, and four   
   co-conspirators were indicted Wednesday on 23 counts of bank and wire   
   fraud, allegedly committed from 2022 to 2024, during her time working   
   for the governor.   
      
   The indictment, first reported by the Sacramento Bee, alleges that   
   Williamson, a longtime Democratic strategist, worked with Greg Campbell,   
   a prominent Sacramento lobbyist, and Sean McCluskie, the former chief of   
   staff to former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra,   
   as well as two other unnamed co-conspirators to steal $225,000 from an   
   unnamed former official’s dormant campaign account for McCluskie’s   
   personal use.   
      
   “Collectively, they funneled the money through various business entities   
   and disguised it as pay for what was, in reality, a no-show job,” FBI   
   Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel said in a news release.   
      
   Prosecutors allege that Williamson and one of the unnamed   
   co-conspirators, described only as a former California public official   
   who owned a political consulting firm, used their political strategy   
   firms to funnel money out of a campaign account, believed to be   
   Becerra’s, into an account controlled by McCluskie. They allegedly   
   disguised the funds as payments for McCluskie’s spouse, who was   
   described in the indictment as a stay-at-home parent.   
      
   Williamson is also accused of falsely claiming more than $1.7 million in   
   business expenses on her taxes. She used the funds to purchase a $15,000   
   Chanel handbag and earrings, a chartered jet trip and a nearly $170,000   
   birthday trip to Mexico, the indictment alleges. She is also accused of   
   conspiring to retroactively create fake contracts to justify federal   
   loans made to her company, Grace Public Affairs.   
      
   https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/11/newsom-chief-of-staff-indicted/   
      
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