SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The FBI has read or listened to Washington, D.C., and Sacramento lobbyists’ conversations as part of an ongoing corruption investigation that has so far ensnared Dana Williamson, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, former Deputy State Attorney General Sean McCluskie and lobbyist Greg Campbell, according to sources who have knowledge of the letters.

FBI Sacramento Field Office Special Agent in Charge Siddhartha Patel informed recipients in letters dated last week that their wire or electronic communications had been “intercepted” as part of its conspiracy case accusing Campbell, Williamson, and McCluskie of stealing campaign funds from Biden administration cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra, a former state attorney general who is now running for governor in 2026.

The federal investigation began in 2022, and appears to linked to a state sexual harassment case against gaming company Activision Blizzard that began with a state investigation in 2019 and later, a lawsuit filed in 2021 against the firm known for the “Call of Duty” franchise.

“Some of the communications intercepted during the course of the investigation were from a phone number believed to be associated with you,” Patel wrote to one Sacramento lobbyist, informing them in a letter dated last Wednesday that their communications had been intercepted during the summer of 2024.

“This letter does not necessarily mean you were the target of the investigation or that any criminal action will be taken against you,” the letter said. “Rather, the purpose of the letter is to notify you that some of your communications may have been intercepted during the course of the investigation.”

The Sacramento Bee obtained the letter from a source who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, and said that a second lobbyist, based in Washington, D.C., told them they received a similar letter.

Four other sources who also declined to be identified said they were informed by other lobbyists that they had received similar letters. It’s unclear how many people received the letters, but the people who spoke to The Bee said they were told the letters were tied to people who had spoken to Williamson during a four-month period in 2024 when she was under FBI surveillance and was Newsom’s chief of staff.

Spokespeople for the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment, saying such communications are not public. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the investigation remains ongoing.

Federal officials arrested Williamson last Wednesday at her Carmichael home and charged her, Campbell and McCluskie with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. The three allegedly conspired to steal $225,000 in campaign funds from Becerra’s accounts to pad McCluskie’s salary while he was working as Becerra’s chief of staff when Becerra served as Health and Human Services Secretary in the Biden administration from 2021 to January 2025.

The indictment accused McCluskie, Williamson and Campbell of disguising the payments as remittances to McCluskie’s wife for a no-show political communications job with Williamson’s consulting firm, Grace Public Affairs.

McCluskie and Campbell have pleaded guilty to the federal charges, and are awaiting hearings set to take place on Thursday and December 4, respectively. California lobbyist Alexis Podesta is also listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, and is cooperating with the investigation, according to her attorney Bill Portanova.

Each bank and wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to $250,000 and a maximum prison sentence of 20 years in prison.

Williamson, who pleaded not guilty last week, is separately accused of falsifying tax returns, lying to investigators and claiming $1 million in business deductions that prosecutors say were actually used to finance private jet travel, buy home furniture and stay at a luxury resort. Her next court appearance is December 11.

She served as Newsom’s chief of staff from late 2022 to November 2024, and before then was known as a hard-charging powerbroker around the Capitol.

Neither Newsom nor Becerra have been charged in connection with the FBI probe. Becerra said he did not know about McCluskie’s theft of his campaign funds. He said the accusations against his aide of 20 years were “a gut punch” and compared it to learning about a spouse’s infidelity.

Newsom’s office said it put Williamson on leave in November 2024 after she informed them about the investigation. When his office formally announced her departure the following month, Newsom thanked Williamson for her counsel and her “service to the state and the people of California over the last two years.”

The federal investigation appears to be linked to a sexual harassment settlement between the state Civil Rights Department, then known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and Activision Blizzard.

Prosecutors say Williamson used her position as chief of staff to lean on state attorneys to quickly settle the litigation with Activision Blizzard, who was a client of hers and Podesta. A member of Activision’s board also donated $100,000 to Newsom’s recall defense campaign in 2021.

The sexual harassment case predates Williamson’s time in the governor’s office, and her attorney, McGregor Scott, previously said the charges were retaliation for Williamson not cooperating with a probe targeting Newsom when FBI agents approached her last year.

Janette Wipper, chief counsel for the civil rights agency, was fired on March 29, 2022, and her deputy Melanie Proctor resigned in protest a day later after their attorney Alexis Rohickner said the governor’s office interfered with the litigation, which started when the state sued Activision Blizzard in 2021 for allegedly fostering a “fray boy culture” that allowed sexual harassment against women to go unchecked.

“The Office of the Governor repeatedly demanded advance notice of litigation strategy and of next steps in the litigation,” Proctor wrote in a resignation email on April 12, 2022. “As we continued to win in state court, this interference increased, mimicking the interests of Activision’s counsel.”

A Newsom spokesperson said at the time that Wipper and Proctor’s accusations were “categorically false.” Neither Wipper nor Proctor has responded to requests for comment.

Activision Blizzard, which has since been acquired by Microsoft and has not publicly responded to the latest allegations, agreed to pay $54 million in the December 2023 settlement but did not admit wrongdoing.

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(The Bee’s Sharon Bernstein contributed to this story.)

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