Rivals Attack Xavier Becerra over Ex-Staffers' Guilty Pleas in Campaign Finance Scandal

Xavier Becerra fended off attacks from rivals in the California governor's race after two former employees pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation on the same day as a debate.

The staffers admitted on Thursday to diverting money from an inactive campaign account to boost their salaries, prompting questions about whether Becerra, former Health and Human Services secretary, knew of or aided the scheme. The action violated federal rules barring use of campaign funds for personal purposes.

The guilty pleas add pressure on Becerra, a leading Democratic contender to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Republican candidate Steve Hilton, another frontrunner, said at the debate that any knowledge of the scheme disqualifies Becerra. "Today we learned that he knew about illegal and improper payments from his campaign account to his former chief of staff," Hilton said. "Honestly, it pains me to say because I like you personally, Xavier, but you shouldn’t be on this stage. You shouldn’t be in this race. You should be preparing your criminal defense."

Becerra denied wrongdoing in a statement before the debate: "I did nothing wrong. Case closed."

His former chief of staff, Sean McCluskie, and strategist Dana Williamson pleaded guilty to taking $225,000 from the account Becerra used for a prior state office bid. Prosecutors said they made withdrawals of $7,500 to $10,000 between 2022 and 2024.

Federal Election Commission rules bar government employees from spending campaign money on non-election or non-official expenses.

Becerra responded at the debate by noting he had not been charged. Democratic rival Katie Porter, a former congresswoman, called that no proof of innocence. "What the quote was, was that you had not been mentioned in the charging documents," she said. "But as you know, that does not preclude, because you are also a trained attorney, you know that does not preclude an indictment from being issued against you. We do not know what Dana Williamson said about your involvement, and the government will have the ability to reveal that later."

Becerra served as HHS secretary, advising President Joe Biden on COVID-19 from 2021 to 2025. He was California's deputy attorney general, a state assemblyman from 1990 to 1992, a U.S. House member from 1993 to 2017, and attorney general from 2017 to 2021.

The California primary is June 2, with the top two advancing to the Nov. 3 general election.