Hearings for indicted ex-Newsom aide postponed after she has liver transplant
Dana Williamson, the former chief of staff to Gov. Gavin Newsom who was arrested last year on public corruption charges, was recovering from a liver transplant, her attorney said Tuesday.
McGregor Scott, the former longtime U.S. attorney in Sacramento, said Williamson was doing well after the procedure.
On Monday, Sacramento U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley ordered proceedings in Williamson’s case postponed until April 16, citing her recovery from a major medical procedure. Williamson, who was 53 at the time of her November arrest, had been waiting for months to receive the liver transplant, Scott said.
Williamson was arrested Nov. 12 and charged with 23 counts of bank fraud, wire fraud, tax violations, making false statements and obstruction of justice. Two co-conspirators, political aide Sean McCluskie and lobbyist Greg Campbell, pleaded guilty in the case, which involved allegations that the three, along with unnamed co-conspirators, siphoned funds from a campaign account for longtime California politician Xavier Becerra through a no-show job in the name of McCluskie’s wife.
Williamson has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Scott has criticized her arrest, saying she was ill and awaiting the transplant, and should have been allowed to turn herself in.
In his Monday order, Nunley said that Williamson was recovering in an unnamed medical facility and that the procedure had gone well. However, full recovery was likely to take months.
“During this time, defendant and defense counsel will continue to confer and prepare, but must work around medical appointments and other medical considerations,” the order said.
The hearing was also delayed because of the volume of investigative materials, known as discovery, that Scott would need to study and discuss with Williamson, the order said.
