The walls are closing in on Gavin Newsom’s political empire, and this time it isn’t a Republican attack ad or a conservative media narrative. It’s a federal wiretap. And the person wearing it was someone Newsom’s inner circle trusted completely.
We now know that Alexis Podesta — Sacramento insider, Democratic operative, former aide to Dianne Feinstein, appointee of Gavin Newsom himself — was fitted with an FBI wire as far back as June 2024. She was recording conversations with Dana Williamson, Newsom’s former chief of staff, who now stands indicted on dozens of felony corruption charges.
Williamson stands accused of diverting about $225,000 in funds from then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s dormant campaign account. Named as co-conspirator 2 in the indictment, Podesta had taken over Williamson’s book of business, including the Becerra account, when Williamson went to work for Newsom. But she was never charged. Why? Now we know.
As Williamson’s own attorney put it with brutal simplicity: “Alexis wore a wire, and Dana did not.”
While Gavin Newsom was busy positioning himself as the future of the Democratic Party — flying around the country, doing media hits, auditioning for a 2028 presidential run — the FBI had a cooperating witness wired up inside his own operation. The same operation he built. The same people he trusted. The same Sacramento machine he’s been running for years.
This isn’t a fishing expedition. This isn’t a political hit job dreamed up by Republicans. This is the federal government methodically working its way through the rot at the heart of California’s Democratic establishment — and they’ve been doing it quietly, patiently, and very, very effectively.
The details that have emerged are damning. Williamson allegedly fed Podesta — who was already cooperating with the FBI — sensitive inside information about an ongoing state lawsuit against Activision. She then lied to federal investigators about it. She also apparently orchestrated a settlement in that case and had the state’s own Chief Counsel fired when that attorney had the audacity to object to Newsom’s interference. This isn’t bureaucratic bungling. This is a sitting governor’s office allegedly manipulating state legal proceedings for political and financial benefit.
And then there’s the broader picture that should make every California taxpayer furious. Podesta, Williamson, and their entire network didn’t build this operation overnight. These women go back to PG&E — yes, that PG&E, the utility company that sparked the wildfires that killed Californians and burned entire towns to the ground. They worked together there before cycling through Jerry Brown’s administration and eventually landing in Newsom’s orbit. This is how California’s Democratic machine actually works: the same insiders rotating through government agencies, utility companies, and campaign operations, enriching each other and covering each other’s tracks, decade after decade.
And now the FBI has been listening. For over a year:
The FBI had a mole inside Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political orbit before the agency’s corruption probe expanded into the governor and his wife, The Post has learned.
Democrat insider Alexis Podesta, 45, secretly recorded conversations during the criminal probe into Newsom’s then-chief of staff, Dana Williamson, 53, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud and tax charges in May, according to Williamson’s attorney.
The revelation she was wearing a wire as far back as June 2024 explains why a swath of Sacramento political insiders and lobbyists were stunned to receive FBI letters last fall informing them that their phone calls had been intercepted during the investigation — despite many having little or no connection to Williamson.
The disclosure comes as Newsom announced last month that he and his wife — whose nonprofit has been burning through money in recent years — as well as members of the governor’s inner circle are under federal investigation.
The reach of this investigation is already sending shockwaves through Sacramento. Multiple lobbyists and officeholders — from both parties — received letters from the FBI informing them that their communications may have been intercepted during the probe. Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover described it plainly: the FBI cast a very wide net across the Capitol community to see what they could find.
That net is still in the water. And there are a lot of very nervous people in Sacramento tonight who have very good reasons to be nervous.
Newsom, meanwhile, is still out there campaigning for a job he hasn’t earned in a state he’s run into the ground. But while he’s busy making speeches and cutting ads, federal investigators are piecing together a picture of his administration that no amount of media management is going to be able to spin away. You can’t spin a wiretap. You can’t charm your way out of a transcript. And you can’t fire the FBI’s Chief Counsel when they get too close to the truth.
The only question left is how far up the chain this goes — and whether Gavin Newsom has already retained the lawyers it sounds like he and his ‘first partner’ will need.