Gavin Newsom Ally Wore FBI Wire in Corruption Probe Targeting Former Chief of Staff

A longtime Gavin Newsom appointee and Democratic power broker secretly wore an FBI wire and recorded conversations as part of a federal public corruption investigation that began with the governor’s inner circle and has since expanded Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

According to an exclusive report in the New York Post, Alexis Podesta, 45, a Newsom appointee to the State Compensation Insurance Fund board since January 2020, cooperated with federal investigators by wearing a wire starting as early as June 2024. The recordings captured discussions during the probe into then-Newsom Chief of Staff Dana Williamson. Podesta remains on the State Compensation Insurance Fund board, earning nearly $61,000 annually.

Williamson’s attorney McGregor Scott, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, confirmed: “Alexis wore a wire, and Dana did not.”

The California Globe has covered this federal investigation extensively. On November 12, 2025, we reported that the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment and FBI arrest of political consultant Dana Williamson, 53, of Carmichael, on charges including conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, filing a false tax return, and making false statements to the FBI. 

The following day, November 13, 2025, the Globe confirmed that Alexis Podesta had been identified in court documents as “Co-Conspirator 2” in the case against Williamson. 

Williamson pleaded guilty in May 2026 in federal court in Sacramento to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, subscribing to a false tax return, and making false statements to the FBI. Her sentencing remains pending.

Court filings detail how Williamson, while serving as Newsom’s chief of staff from late 2022, allegedly orchestrated a scheme involving a dormant campaign account tied to former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Approximately $225,000 was siphoned from the account and disguised as legitimate consulting fees intended to benefit Sean McCluskie, Becerra’s former chief of staff.

Podesta, who inherited oversight of aspects of the account, received payments through her company from Becerra’s committee, often in $10,000 monthly installments in 2023 and 2024. Podesta has stated she was unaware the payments were improper. Her attorney, Bill Portanova, confirmed her cooperation with investigators. Podesta has not been charged.

One specific example captured in the investigation: Williamson and Podesta exchanged text messages and participated in a recorded call strategizing how to respond to a Public Records Act request concerning California’s litigation against Activision Blizzard, a corporate client. Williamson allegedly shared confidential state government information with Podesta about the matter.

The California Globe previously reported on Williamson’s role as Newsom’s “enforcer” and key liaison to labor unions and business interests before her replacement in December 2024 by Nathan Barankin, a former top aide to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. 

The investigation, which sources indicate has been active for years (with roots traced back as early as 2022 in some reporting), has broadened significantly. 

FBI letters sent last fall notified numerous Sacramento insiders and lobbyists, including Republican Assemblyman Josh Hoover, that their phone calls had been intercepted during the probe. Hoover, who had no connection to Williamson or Podesta, described it as casting “a pretty broad net across the Capitol community.”

On June 15, Governor Newsom announced he and his wife (First Partner) Jennifer Siebel Newsom were under federal investigation, framing the probe as as political retaliation orchestrated by President Trump ahead of Newsom’s anticipated 2028 presidential run, citing Trump’s past comments calling for his arrest. 

“They have not found a crime — they are simply trying to find one,” Newsom stated. “We have nothing to hide. Mr. President, come after me. I am not going anywhere. The country is watching.”

In his formal statement, Newsom elaborated: “In recent days, federal agents have knocked on the doors of family friends and former employees. Not because they found a crime. Because they are simply trying to find one. They are demanding records. They are abusing the grand jury process. Digging through years and years of random documents.”

Newsom continued, “Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets. He’s coming after me because I am considering running for President. Because he hates that I’ve consistently called him out – over and over again – for his lies and deceit. Donald Trump is simply the most corrupt President in American history. He has turned the levers of government into his own personal power ministries to reward cronies and to try to jail his opponents… One by one, anyone who has challenged Donald Trump has ended up on his hit list. And today, I proudly join that list… If they can’t intimidate me, they’ll go after the mother of our children.”

Siebel Newsom has similarly accused Trump of having “no boundaries.”

Our reporting has consistently highlighted how vendors and donors connected to the Newsom orbit have profited handsomely while the First Partner’s nonprofit extracted millions through salaries and licensing fees from an organization she controls.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom solicited state vendors and the governor’s campaign donors for large gifts to her charity, The Representation Project. Since 2011, this supposed gender-justice charity has raked in over $800,000 from corporate giants like PG&E, AT&T, and Comcast—firms with billions at stake in California’s regulatory landscape.

In August and September 2022, the Globe shared a report by Open the Books, which sued, and then had to file 442 California Public Record Act requests – one with each state agency – in order to obtain California’s line-by-line spending by state agencies. California’s Controller, Betty Yee, rejected their sunshine request for state spending, claiming she “couldn’t locate” any of the nearly 50 million bills she paid in 2019.

What Open the Books auditors found in California’s state spending was “979 state vendors who gave $10,561,828 in political donations to Gavin Newsom during his 2010, 2018, recall election, and 2022 election cycles. Meanwhile, these companies reaped $6,201,978,173 in state payments.”

That’s a $10.6 million investment for a $6.3 billion return.

The current charity revelations follow Governor Newsom’s $13,000 fine from the Fair Political Practices Commission in November 2025 for failing to timely disclose more than $14.3 million in behested payments between 2019 and 2024. The FPPC classified the violation as negligent rather than willful, but watchdog groups argue the lapse underscores persistent transparency concerns.

Republican critics, including Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, have called for investigations into Newsom’s use of taxpayer funds for personal defense related to the DOJ probe. 

The revelation that a Newsom appointee and insider wore an FBI wire underscores the depth of the federal investigation into California’s Democratic political machine. While Williamson declined to cooperate, Podesta’s assistance has provided investigators with direct recordings from within the governor’s orbit.

As the California Globe has noted in its ongoing coverage, the case raises serious questions about governance, ethics, and accountability in Sacramento. With Williamson’s guilty plea secured and the probe now touching the governor’s family and closest advisors, further developments could have significant political repercussions, particularly as Newsom eyes a national stage.

The governor’s office and involved parties have yet to provide additional public comment on the latest FBI wire revelations.

The California Globe will continue following this investigation closely.