A well known Democratic figure in Sacramento, Alexis Podesta, reportedly wore a wire as part of her cooperation with federal investigators as they homed in on former Newsom chief of staff Dana Williamson.<\/p>\n
The California Post reported<\/a> Thursday that they confirmed that lobbyist Alexis Podesta had worn a wire and recorded conversations with a range of people in Sacramento, filling in a missing puzzle piece for those who have been informed by the feds that phone conversations of theirs had been recorded.<\/p>\n Podesta, who served as secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency under former Governor Jerry Brown and was subsequently appointed to the board of the State Compensation Insurance Fund by Governor Gavin Newsom, was previously identified as a co-conspirator in the campaign-fund embezzlement case against Williamson and former Deputy State Attorney General Sean McCluskie. The Sacramento Bee reported in December<\/a> that Podesta was an unindicted co-conspirator in the case and was cooperating with the FBI.<\/p>\n Williamson pleaded guilty in May<\/a> to federal fraud and tax fraud charges<\/a>, some of which were in connection to a scheme to pay McCluskie $225,000 for what amounted to a no-show job, padding his salary for other work, using unused funds in a campaign account linked to former CA Attorney General Xavier Becerra.<\/p>\n As the Sacramento Bee previously reported, Podesta had sent bills to this campaign account at Williamson’s request, and Podesta was also involved in a sexual harassment case brought against the company Activision Blizzard \u2014 Williamson was accused of intervening in the case and illegally passing information on to Podesta, who was representing the company in the case.<\/p>\n The Bee had previously reported<\/a> in November 2025 that dozens of political insiders and lobbyists, based in both Sacramento and DC, had received letters from the FBI informing them that telephone conversations of theirs had been recorded. And many were reportedly confused because they had never had conversations with Williamson or McCluskie.<\/p>\n \u201cAlexis wore a wire, and Dana did not,\u201d says McGregor Scott, a lawyer for Williamson, speaking to the California Post.<\/p>\n The implication now is that Podesta’s wire contributed to the investigation that’s now ongoing<\/a> into Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.<\/p>\n “There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way,\u201d Siebel Newsom said in a statement last month. \u201cThis is not presidential behavior, and the Governor and I will continue to speak truth to power because the American people deserve so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n As CNN previously reported<\/a>, the federal probe appears to be focused on the “tax-related activity” of Siebel Newsom’s non-profit organization which is focused on gender equity in media.<\/p>\n The next chess move in all this will be a speech, announced today,<\/a> that Newsom will be airing on Saturday, July 4th, to push back on Trump’s ongoing efforts to undermine state elections and mail-in voting.<\/p>\n