"A former top aide to California governor Gavin Newsom has been arrested over federal charges alleging her involvement in a scheme to steal campaign money from Xavier Becerra, the former US health secretary. Dana Williamson was indicted on 23 counts that include bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the US, and was scheduled to make her first court appearance Wednesday in Sacramento."
"It was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney who could speak on her behalf. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison. Williamson is a longtime Democratic power player in Sacramento. She was a cabinet secretary for former governor Jerry Brown before opening her own political affairs firm. She was also Becerra's campaign manager when he ran for attorney general in 2018, and she later rejoined state government as Newsom's chief of staff."
Dana Williamson was indicted on 23 federal counts including bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States and was arrested in Sacramento. Roughly $225,000 was allegedly diverted from Xavier Becerra's campaign coffers to an associate's personal use between February 2022 and 2024, overlapping Williamson's tenure as Newsom's chief of staff. The charges follow a three-year FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation probe and form part of an ongoing political corruption investigation. The indictment names four other co-conspirators, alleges coordination with Sean McCluskie and lobbyist Greg Campbell, and accuses Williamson of creating false, backdated contracts after a 2024 civil subpoena.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]