Give me a Break …
Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff was indicted on 23 counts of bank and wire fraud last November. Now Newsom is on X calling Trump “the most corrupt president in American history.” But a federal prosecutor already has a name for Gavin Newsom – and it isn’t “watchdog.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli went on Fox & Friends in January and called Newsom “the king of fraud” – his words, not ours.
“California has spent $24 billion in the last five years on homelessness, and no one can account for where that money has really gone,” Essayli said.
City Journal estimates California has lost at least $180 billion to fraud since Newsom took office.
His own chief of staff – Dana Williamson, who worked in his office from 2022 through late 2024 – was indicted on 23 counts of bank and wire fraud.
Federal prosecutors say she funneled $225,000 from a dormant campaign account and falsely claimed more than $1.7 million in fraudulent business expenses – including a $15,000 Chanel bag, a chartered jet, and a nearly $170,000 birthday trip to Mexico.
His send-off message praised her “insight, tenacity, and big heart.” She walked out with a $50,000 payout for unused vacation time. Tom Girardi – a high-profile attorney Newsom appointed to his Judicial Selection Advisory Committee in 2019 – was later convicted of four counts of wire fraud and sentenced to more than seven years in prison for embezzling tens of millions of dollars. A senior city official who appeared alongside Newsom at campaign events was sentenced to four years in prison for bank fraud.