Ex-Newsom aide received $62,000 after leaving amid federal corruption probe
Dana Williamson, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, received $62,000 after leaving the governor’s office in late 2024 while she was under federal investigation for public corruption.
Williamson, 53, received $62,598.14 after she left his office at the end of 2024, according to payroll data from the office of State Controller Malia Cohen. The Los Angeles Times first reported the payment, which is typical of state employees to receive for unused vacation time and other benefits when they leave government employment.
Williamson earned $235,942 in 2024 in base pay, according to payroll data from Cohen’s office. Records show Williamson received $40,157.90 in regular pay, $260 in “other” pay, and a lump sum payment of $22,180.24 in 2025, for a total of $62,598.14.
Newsom’s office put her on leave in November 2024 after she told them FBI agents had informed her the agency was investigating her, which she told Newsom was related to a federal tax issue. Her last day was December 17, 2024. She then received reimbursement for 550 hours of accrued and unused leave, holidays, and other informal time off, according to Newsom’s office.
Williamson has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting a court date next month. The court postponed her hearing, which was initially set for February, after Williamson received a liver transplant last month.
“Jobs at Ms. Williamson’s level in the governor’s office provided very little opportunity for time off. The compensation she earned was paid in full compliance with California state law,” said her attorney McGregor Scott, a former U.S. Attorney himself. “It’s that simple.”
Williamson, a former aide to former Govs. Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger, was known around the Capitol as a sharp-elbowed and well-connected operative before joining the Newsom administration in late 2022.
Last November, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento indicted her, lobbyist Greg Campbell, and former Deputy Attorney General Sean McCluskie on charges to commit wire and bank fraud. The 23-count indictment accused them of conspiring to pad McCluskie’s salary by siphoning $225,000 in campaign funds from his boss, former Attorney General Xavier Becerra, after Becerra joined the Biden administration as a Cabinet official and McCluskie became his chief of staff.
McCluskie and Campbell have both pleaded guilty. Alexis Podesta, a lobbyist and former Williamson mentee, is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, according to her attorney, Bill Portanova. She cooperated with investigators, who covertly recorded her and Williamson’s conversations with dozens of lobbyists and Capitol operatives in summer 2024.
The FBI separately accused Williamson of falsifying tax records to obtain a federal COVID loan for her consulting firm, Grace Public Affairs. Prosecutors said she used her position in the governor’s office to force a state agency to settle a sexual harassment case against her former client, video game company Activision Blizzard.
When Williamson left his office at the end of 2024, Newsom praised her as a tenacious “fighter” with a “big heart.” She was succeeded by Nathan Barankin, a former adviser to Kamala Harris.
The Bee Capitol Bureau’s Will Melhado contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 11:08 AM.
