Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is calling for federal investigators to revisit their investigation into Democrat opponent Xavier Becerra, alleging that Becerra knew about a scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars from a California campaign account that was allegedly used to supplement the compensation of his former chief of staff, as reported [1] by Red State.
Hilton announced the effort in a statement calling for the federal criminal probe involving former chiefs of staff connected to Becerra and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to be reopened.
Hilton said he and California attorney general candidate Michael Gates sent a letter to Todd Blanche requesting further action.
During an appearance on Fox Business on Sunday, Hilton argued that it was “impossible to believe Becerra didn’t know about the scheme.”
“This is a new announcement right this morning…”
“This guy Becerra, he was, he’s a 36-year career politician. He’ll be worse even than Newsom if he’s elected. But the really terrible thing is that he’s up to his neck in a corruption scandal. It’s involving his former chief of staff, and they took money from a California campaign account and used it to top up this other guy’s salary when he was chief of staff to Becerra when he was HHS secretary.”
The allegations stem from events that followed Becerra’s appointment by former President Joe Biden to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in 2020.
According to the account, Becerra wanted his longtime chief of staff, Sean McCluskie, to join him in Washington, D.C., but McCluskie sought higher compensation.
A scheme was then allegedly developed involving $225,000 from Becerra’s California campaign account.
The money was sent to a consulting firm operated by Dana Williamson, a former chief of staff to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and was allegedly used to pay McCluskie’s wife for what prosecutors described as a fraudulent job arrangement.
McCluskie, Williamson and a Sacramento lobbyist separately pleaded guilty to fraud and other charges connected to the case in late 2025 and May 2026. All three are awaiting sentencing.
Becerra has maintained that he did not know about the alleged scheme. Hilton, however, said a witness statement and text messages in the case raise questions about that claim.
“Now, they’ve been federally indicted; they pleaded guilty. Becerra claims he knew nothing about this illegal scheme, but we’ve got the witness statement from the case, and right there, I’ve circled it in red.”
“There’s a text exchange between the two people who pleaded guilty, and it says one of them says to the other, ‘Talk to Public Official Number One.’ Becerra has confirmed that he is Public Official Number One.”
“In other words, he did know about this, and I think — because it’s all about him getting his cheaper staff, working with him in D.C. — he probably came up with the whole idea. He needs to be re-interviewed by the FBI to make sure that voters know whether the Democrat candidate for governor is actually a criminal.”
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Hilton’s request places renewed attention on the federal case as California’s gubernatorial campaign continues.
The Republican candidate is arguing that the FBI should further examine Becerra’s role and determine whether the available evidence warrants additional questioning or investigative action before voters head to the polls.
Becerra has denied knowing about the alleged scheme, while Hilton maintains that the witness statement cited in his request contradicts that position.
Any decision to reopen or expand the federal investigation would rest with federal law enforcement authorities.