SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A top California Democratic political aide pleaded guilty Thursday to charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud related to a scheme to steal campaign funds from Xavier Becerra when he served as the federal health secretary.The case has drawn attention to Becerra in his bid for California governor, with voting underway and concluding June 2. Several of Becerra’s rivals blasted him over the scandal at a televised debate Thursday night, trying to make him appear unfit for office. Becerra punched back, noting he hasn’t been implicated.“Accept the facts,” he said.Dana Williamson entered the plea in court in Sacramento. In the agreement, she admits to three of the 23 counts of which she was initially charged. Williamson is a former top campaign adviser to Becerra and formerly served as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff. Newsom hasn’t been implicated.
The plea deal says the maximum sentence for the bank fraud charge is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. But Williamson’s defense attorney, McGregor Scott, said he expected it to be no more than three years based on federal sentencing guidelines. He plans to argue for even less.
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The federal indictment alleged that Williamson developed a plan with co-conspirators including Sean McCluskie, a longtime Becerra aide. The scheme was to siphon money from one of Becerra’s dormant state campaign accounts to give to McCluskie to pad his salary after he accepted a job as Becerra’s chief of staff in Washington.
