Last year, the FBI was secretly listening as a senior adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom let out a series of profanities as he ranted about a public records request from an anonymous individual.
“Double f-word, she!” Newsom’s chief of staff, Dana Williamson, said, repeating the “f-word” throughout the conversation. She also called another person an “a-“, according to federal court documents released this week.
Until Wednesday, few outside California’s political bubble would have heard Williamson’s name.
She is currently embroiled in a scandal involving political consultants and illegal payments, which could put her in the shadow of her former boss, Newsom, who is challenging President Trump for the 2028 presidential election.
Mr. Williamson, a shrewd negotiator who bridged Sacramento’s overlapping government, business and labor communities, was also the author of unnecessary fights and cruel letters, political consultants and friends said this week.
Federal agents arrested Williamson Wednesday at his home in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael. Her lawyer, a former U.S. attorney. McGregor-Scott was furious at the way the arrest was handled and said he was seriously ill and needed a liver transplant.
Federal prosecutors allege she conspired to funnel funds from former clients’ state election accounts for bogus services and forged documents related to coronavirus loans.
She also is accused of falsely reporting luxury goods and services on her tax returns, including a $150,000 birthday trip to Mexico, and allegedly trying to pass them off as business expenses, the government said.
Williamson appeared in a Sacramento courtroom this week after pleading not guilty to the charges. She reportedly appeared solemn during the hearing, at one point raising her handcuffed hands to wipe away tears and leaving without speaking to reporters.
Court documents filed this week paint a picture of both a scheming player and a vulnerable person. In a February 2022 text message to a colleague discussing a money laundering scheme that was allegedly in its early stages of planning, she wrote:
Public relations consultant Stephen Maviglio has known her since the two worked in President Clinton’s administration and then Gov. Gray Davis’ administration. He is currently trying to raise a legal defense fund for her.
He described Williamson as a “no-nonsense, no-sarcery, get-it-done guy” who was “straight-talking, sometimes to the point of making people uncomfortable.”
He added that she was dropping bombs on a regular basis.
Another recording captured by the FBI shows Williamson with two colleagues at a restaurant near the state Capitol in Sacramento last year. The government was asking about the funds she received through a coronavirus loan.
She complained about the drama “f—” and said her Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan was “discarded,” before adding another epithet. Federal officials say she created false contracts to show that COVID-19 funds were used properly.
There is little sympathy from her detractors. Gil Duran, a former press secretary for Gov. Jerry Brown who worked with Williamson, likened him to a “mafia boss” in an interview with CNN. Sacramento also has a lot of defenders, many of them women, who see her as tough and inspiring.
Details in the federal filing sent shockwaves through Sacramento and the state Capitol this week.
Alison Golden, who supervised Williamson from 2002 to 2004 as vice president of communications for the family planning organization Mar Monte, said she was “stunned by the allegations and in disbelief.”
Golden described her as “incredibly bright and policy-savvy. I admire how she has developed in her career.”
Mr. Williamson, who grew up in Santa Rosa, has worked in the private and public sectors and was employed by three governors: Davis, Jerry Brown and Newsom.
She worked at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) alongside two other women who would have a significant impact on her life. The late Nancy McFadden, who was an adviser to Mr. Brown, and Alexis Podesta, a longtime California political insider who also appears in federal court documents filed this week.
Her lawyer said Podesta, identified as “Co-conspirator 2,” has not been charged and is cooperating with the investigation.
Mr. Williamson was hired as Mr. Brown’s senior adviser and was later promoted to cabinet secretary.
While working for Brown, Williamson publicly advocated for children’s health, testifying in favor of a bill that would eliminate the state’s personal belief exemption for childhood vaccines. She said this issue is meaningful to her because she is a mother of four children.
“Typically, staff don’t speak out on bills. The great thing about the governor is that he respects that we are first and foremost human beings,” Williamson told the San Francisco Chronicle. “This was important to me.”
Business advocates praised her direct approach while working at Brown.
“She was very straightforward and a great person to work with,” said Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. He said he hadn’t been with her in years.
She bounced between private and government jobs, drawing criticism from groups like Consumer Watchdog for her “revolving door” career.
In one episode, she was allegedly seen negotiating on behalf of energy customers in Brown’s office as the state worked out the details of a grid agreement from a watchdog group.
She founded her own government communications firm, Grace Public Affairs, and handled a series of campaigns, including Proposition 27, an online sports betting initiative that was placed on the 2022 ballot but did not pass.
Her clients included California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and former Atty. General Xavier Becerra’s campaign funds were allegedly raided by Williamson and others.
By 2017, she had a close group of female friends who had also risen to the top of their profession. But to people outside her inner circle, she was a complete flop, one political insider said this week.
A statue of Williamson’s then-5-year-old daughter was installed at the California Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Sacramento as part of a campaign to promote women’s empowerment following the defeat of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Those behind the statue included Robin Swanson, a friend of Williamson’s and a Democratic communications consultant, and Angie Tate, then the chief fundraiser for the California Democratic Party.
The installation is intended to mimic the “Fearless Girl” statue on New York’s Wall Street and depicts a 4-foot-tall young woman defiantly staring at the famous charging bull statue.
In 2022, Newsom’s office announced that Williamson would join his office as chief of staff. Although the two were not particularly close when she joined, she quickly became part of his inner circle, Politico reported at the time.
Anthony York, Newsom’s former communications director and former L.A. Times reporter, told Politico at the time that Williamson was not intimidated by the governor’s celebrity status. “She doesn’t feel any stress, and that’s part of what makes her great,” York said.
While in Newsom’s office, she helped successfully pass Proposition 1, which borrowed billions of dollars for mental health services, but this was a personal issue for her family.
“I had a particularly tough experience with my husband, and I learned a lot from it…When it happened to my husband, I learned about all the holes in the system.”
She moved to Carmichael from Elk Grove last year and bought a home for $1.695 million, according to property records. Records show she had ties to several homes in Elk Grove, including one that went into foreclosure in 2012.
Williamson often sent combative messages at night, including social media posts and text messages. Her targets include California Federation of Labor President Lorena Gonzalez and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), whom she called a “funny idiot” on the X show.
She targeted former Congressman Kevin McCarty during last year’s Sacramento mayoral campaign. She called him “the devil” on X and urged others not to vote for him, but her comment was deleted after a few days.
Newsom was placed on leave last year when she told Williamson she was under criminal investigation. Her last day in office was in November 2024. “Her insight, tenacity and generosity of spirit will be sorely missed,” the governor said in a statement at the time.
This week, the governor’s press secretary took a different tone: “Mr. Williamson no longer serves in this administration. We are still reviewing the details of the allegations, but the governor expects all public servants to be held to the highest standards of integrity.”
