The indictment of Newsom’s former aide points to a federal investigation by the feds

An indictment unsealed this week accusing former governor Gavin Newsom of political corruption has thrown California’s top political circles into turmoil — and fueled speculation that a federal investigation could be launched in the state capital.

Authorities have not identified any targets beyond Deanna Williamson and two other influential political operatives with ties to the state’s most powerful Democrats, all of whom are accused of embezzling and stealing campaign funds for personal use.

But details contained in the indictment and other public records indicate that the FBI and the US Department of Justice were deeply interested in the involvement of Williamson and other activists in handling a legal case involving “Corporation 1.” The facts match the details of a controversial sex-discrimination investigation into “Corporation 1” that led to Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard Inc., one of the largest video game companies in the state of California.

Williamson — an influential dealmaker and one of the state’s top Democratic political consultants before and after she ran Newsom’s office — was arrested Wednesday on corruption charges. Two longtime colleagues, lobbyist Greg Campbell, a former top staffer in the California Assembly, and Sean McCloskey, a longtime aide to former state Atty. General and US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, agreed to plead guilty to related charges.

After Williamson pleaded not guilty in a tearful courtroom appearance Wednesday, her attorney, McGregor Scott, said federal authorities charged his client only after he first asked her to help investigate Newsom, the nature of which remains unclear. Williamson refused to cooperate.

The governor has not been charged with any crime. Still, Republicans are already using the allegations to attack Newsom, who has publicly said he is looking to run for president in 2028.

Williamson’s attorney did not provide any details on what federal authorities will be investigating.

But many of the threads in the story reveal details in the Activision saga.

Williamson and Campbell both served as advisers to Activision Blizzard, according to financial disclosures filed with the state. Williamson reported receiving income from the company before her appointment to Newsom’s office, state records show. According to records filed earlier this year, Campbell disclosed that his lobbying firm began paying by performance around the time Williamson entered the governor’s office. Activision has reportedly paid his company $240,000 in 2023 and 2024. The amount Williamson was paid by Activision was not disclosed.

Performance officials did not respond to emails seeking comment. Attorneys for Williamson, Campbell and McCloskey also did not respond or declined to comment.

In 2021, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Activision Blizzard, which distributes video games such as “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush,” alleging that company officials discriminated against women, paid them less than men and ignored reports of serious sexual harassment.

The complaint alleges: The company “created a pervasive ‘crazy boy’ culture in the workplace that continues. In the office, women are exposed to cubicle crawls where male employees drink copious amounts of alcohol as they ‘crawl’ through various cubicles in the office and often engage in inappropriate behavior toward female employees, playing video games for long periods of time for female employees. Engaging in laughter, talking openly about women’s bodies, and joking about sexual assault.

Officials of the Executive Department denied the allegations.

The allegations were also investigated by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Activision Blizzard agreed to a consent decree, which was approved in March 2022, with the agency requiring the company to establish an $18 million fund for employees who experience sexual harassment or discrimination, pregnancy discrimination or retaliation.

Just a few weeks later, the case gained national attention again when Janet Wepper, the supervising attorney on the case for the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, was fired by the Newsom administration, and her chief deputy resigned, alleging that she was doing so in protest of Newsom’s office’s interference.

“The governor’s office has repeatedly requested litigation strategy and advance notice of next steps in the case,” the deputy, Melanie Proctor, wrote to colleagues. “As we continued to win in state court, this interference increased, duplicating Activision’s counsel interests.”

An Activision board member contributed $40,200 to Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign, and an additional $100,000 to a committee opposing a 2021 recall campaign against Newsom — an effort that failed.

Newsom’s office denied that there was interference. “The claims of interference by our office are patently false,” Erin Malone, Newsom’s then communications director, said at the time.

As the case continues to grind its way through Los Angeles Superior Court, the company has stepped up its lobbying presence in Sacramento, according to disclosures filed with the state. Activision began paying Campbell to lobby on its behalf in late 2022, the documents show.

Around this time, Newsom announced that he Williamson hired Become his chief of staff.

In December 2023, the state announced that it had reached a settlement agreement with Activision for $54 million, with the bulk of the funds going to women who were underpaid. The company has not admitted any wrongdoing.

The FBI has made inquiries about the settlement of the activity, although the focus of the investigation is unclear. When reached this week, Calabasas attorney Alan Goldstein, who handled the sexual harassment case against Equivision, said he received a call from an FBI agent investigating the California settlement — but that he couldn’t recall the “full conversation.”

Federal investigators are also looking into how Campbell, Williamson and another Sacramento political consultant, Alexis Podesta, conduct their affairs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in its indictment disclosure this week that the investigation began three years ago. All three advisers were members of the Sacramento-based Collaborative, an association of top Democratic political activists.

From 2017 to 2020, Podesta served as secretary of the California Department of Business, Consumer Services and Housing, which included the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing — the agency that launched an investigation into his performance in 2018.

Williamson received a federal subpoena for information about her handling of government debt that her business received during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, according to details in the indictment. The indictments accuse Williamson of spending large sums on luxury items — including a Gucci bag, Chanel earrings and a $150,000 Mexican birthday vacation and party, as well as boat charters and private jet travel — and then claiming them as business expenses on her taxes.

She and Campbell also allegedly collected money from Bequera’s inactive campaign account with McCloskey to pay McCloskey’s wife for a fake, “can’t do” job for Williamson. When Williamson went to work for Newsom, the indictment alleged, Podesta took over handling the pass-through payments.

By June 2024, someone in the circle was cooperating with federal investigators and wearing a wire, recording Williamson’s private conversations, according to allegations included in the indictment.

On November 14, 2024, according to the indictment, FBI agents interviewed Williamson, asking her about Becker’s campaign funds and pandemic funds.

Investigators also asked her about her actions “while serving in public office to involve the State of California and a former client-Corporation 1 in litigation,” according to the indictment. Black does not know Company 1but the description matches the performance case. The indictment notes that Corporation 1 was a former client of Williamson’s and that it was involved in settlement discussions with the state in a 2023 case. It also refers to the state attorney who was fired in connection with the case.

Williamson, according to the indictment, told the FBI that she did not provide any insider information to Campbell or other associates outside the government. But based on their recorded conversations, the defendant said, investigators believe that’s not true.

They allege that in January 2023, shortly after Williamson began as Newsom’s chief, she revealed to Podesta that she had “told a high-level state attorney that . . . [the case] settled.”

The indictment notes that Corporation 1 was not only a former client of Williamson, but also a current client of Podesta.

In June 2024, Williamson complained to Podesta that someone had requested California public records law seeking information about meetings and communications between Newsom officials and the company, according to the indictment.

Proctor, the state attorney who resigned in 2022 after alleging Newsom’s administration interfered in the performance case, posted on her Bluesky social media account in July that she had submitted a public records request on May 29, 2024. She also posted a response from Newsom’s office, showing a January 2024 meeting between William Costa’s former chief, William Costa, and former Chief Williamson’s office. Performance Executive.

In their June conversation, according to the indictment, Williamson told Podesta, “I just wanted to let you know PRAS that we’re starting to get it,” the indictment said. PRAs refer to public records requests.

“Oh, ugh, hey, they really don’t know who they’re messing with,” Podesta replied.

“They really don’t,” Williamson said.

Podesta, who is identified in the indictment as “co-conspirator 2,” has not been charged. On Thursday, she sent a message to several colleagues offering advice on the situation.

“While I cannot discuss ongoing investigations, I want to make it clear that I have always conducted myself – and my business – with integrity.” She also said she “continues to cooperate fully with federal authorities.”

On Friday afternoon, McCloskey and Campbell appeared in federal court in Sacramento to appear on conspiracy charges in consecutive trials.

Both men previously reached plea agreements with prosecutors and will return to court to enter those pleas, McCloskey in late November and Campbell in early December.

Prosecutors did not ask for a single person to be detained, but they were ordered to surrender their passports and refrain from associating with other accused accomplices.

In brief remarks to reporters, Campbell’s attorney, Todd Pickles, said his client “gives a full account of his actions” and “will discuss the charges further at the appropriate time.” But, Pickles noted, in those charges “Mr. Campbell is not engaged in advocacy or lobbying on behalf of any client.”

Times staff writers Katie King and Melody Gutierrez contributed to this report.