Whoa: A Sacramento Insider Wore a Wire in Dana Williamson/Gavin Newsom Probe

Back in November 2025, when we learned that California Gov. Gavin Newsom's former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, had been indicted on dozens of felony corruption charges, one thing that stood out to me was that one woman at the center of the scheme "to divert approximately $225,000 in funds" from then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra's dormant campaign account wasn't charged with a crime. Named as co-conspirator 2 in the indictment, Alexis Podesta had taken over Williamson's book of business, including the Becerra account, when Williamson went to work for Newsom. 

Now we know the possible reason why: according to Williamson's attorney, MacGregor Scott, Podesta was wearing a wire as far back as June, 2024. Scott said, "Alexis wore a wire, and Dana did not."

That would also explain why there was a detailed transcript of a June 2024 conversation between Podesta and Williamson related to a lawsuit the state brought against Williamson's former client, Activision. Williamson is charged with making false statements to investigators based on that conversation, in which she fed Podesta information about the state's moves. She also orchestrated a settlement and had the state's Chief Counsel fired after counsel objected to the governor's interference.

Williamson then denied to federal investigators that she ever shared that type of information with people outside the administration.

Podesta, who previously worked for Dianne Feinstein and held senior positions in former Gov. Jerry Brown's administration was appointed to the State Compensation Insurance Fund board by Newsom in 2020, which pays $61,000/year. She also previously worked for Disney and PG&E.

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At the time of Williamson's arrest, numerous Sacramento lobbyists and even officeholders received letters from the FBI letting them know that some of their communications might have been intercepted as part of the probe.

“Some of the communications intercepted during the course of the investigation were from a phone number believed to be associated with you," the letter stated, continuing, “This letter does not necessarily mean you were the target of the investigation or that any criminal action will be taken against you. 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.”

 

Some of those who received the letters hadn't spoken to Williamson or Podesta, including Republican Asm. Josh Hoover, who told the California Post:

“A lot of people received letters essentially informing us that there were certain periods of time where the FBI was given access to follow phone calls. I don’t know how these investigations work, but it sounds like they cast a pretty broad net across the Capitol community to see what they could find.”

If that's the case, they're going to be busy for a very, very long time. And it won't be a relaxing Independence Day weekend for most in Sacramento, to put it mildly.