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.
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. Neither have 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.
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.
McCluskie signed a plea agreement Oct. 30 in which he admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, according to court filings. He agreed to pay back the $225,000 he took from the account.
Scott said McCluskie dreamed up the theft scheme because he was facing financial difficulties and Williamson joined because she wanted to help him out of a tough spot.
“She was simply trying to help a friend in a pinch as best she could,” Scott told reporters.
Becerra is a former member of Congress who was appointed California attorney general in 2017 to fill a vacancy and reelected in 2018 with Williamson running his campaign. Former President Joe Biden later appointed him as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Becerra hasn't commented on Williamson's plea deal. In November, he said the “accusations of impropriety by a long-serving trusted adviser are a gut punch.”
Williamson is a longtime Democratic power player in Sacramento known for her savvy and aggressive style, often unafraid to spar publicly and privately with those who disagree with her. She was a Cabinet secretary for former Gov. Jerry Brown before opening her own political affairs firm and later rejoining state government as Newsom’s chief of staff.
The indictment accused Williamson of filing fraudulent tax forms for her business from 2021 to 2023 claiming more than $1 million in business deductions for personal expenses, including luxury handbags and jewelry; private jet travel; vacations in Mexico; installation of a home HVAC system; and several hundred thousand dollars paid to various relatives for fake jobs.
FILE - Dana Williamson, a former top aide to Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, leaves the federal courthouse in Sacramento, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market rose to more records Thursday after Cisco Systems joined the parade of U.S. companies reporting fatter profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to set an all-time high for a second straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 370 points, or 0.7%, and finished above the 50,000 level for the first time since the war with Iran began, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.9% to its own record.
Cisco helped lead the market after reporting better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The tech giant’s stock leaped 13.4% for its best day in nearly 15 years, and CEO Chuck Robbins said it saw “very strong, broad-based demand for our products.”
Big Tech behemoths in particular are pouring cash into artificial-intelligence technology, and Cisco gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that easily topped analysts’ expectations.
Such voracious demand for AI, and the big profits it’s producing, have been major reasons the U.S. stock market has set records throughout this year. Cerebras Systems, an AI processor company, raised $5.55 billion after selling its stock in an initial public offering, and its shares surged 68.1% in their debut on the Nasdaq Thursday.
Corporate earnings reported so far this season have “reinforced that this is still an AI-led market, but one where the impact is broadening quickly,” according to Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, chief investment and portfolio strategist at BlackRock.
“What started with a handful of companies is now driving earnings growth across semiconductors, infrastructure, and even parts of the industrial economy,” she said.
Outside of AI, other stocks rallying after delivering better-than-expected profit reports included StubHub Holdings, up 13.7%, Viking Holdings, up 5.5% and Yeti Holdings, up 6.2%.
All three companies sell products that aren’t day-to-day essentials, such as concert tickets, river cruises and insulated water bottles. Strong results from them could be an indicator that customers are still willing to spend even though U.S. consumers have been telling surveys they’re feeling discouraged about the economy.
Whether U.S. households will keep spending and support the economy is a big question because pressure has been bearing down on them due to high oil prices and inflation created by the Iran war. A report released Thursday said that shoppers overall spent less at U.S. retailers last month than economists expected. But the deceleration after factoring out gasoline and automobile sales wasn’t quite as bad as economists thought it would be.
A separate report, meanwhile, said more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, which could be an indication of more layoffs. The number, though, remains relatively low compared with history.
Treasury yields flitted up and down in the bond market immediately after the reports, but they largely remained steady. The yield on the 10-year ticked up to 4.47% from 4.46% late Wednesday.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 56.99 points to 7,501.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 370.26 to 50,063.46, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 232.88 to 26,635.22.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1%, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.8% to another record thanks to gains for AI-related stocks.
Stocks were virtually flat in Hong Kong and down 1.5% in Shanghai as Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing.
Some investors hope Trump could encourage Xi to use China’s close economic ties with Iran to get it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The strait’s closure because of the war has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide, which has driven up prices.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 0.1% to settle at $105.72 Thursday, and it remains well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
Trader Michael Capolino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Patrick Casey works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)
Asia markets index of Japan, South Korea and Australia is seen on a screen at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
