Gov. Gavin Newsom unleashed a defensive social media tirade Friday, lashing out at President Trump, the Justice Division and The California Submit after reporting highlighted political ties between FBI informant Alexis Podesta and the California governor.
In a prolonged X publish by the Governor’s Press Workplace, the administration accused “MAGA bootlickers” of spreading “false data” whereas insisting there’s “no proof” connecting Newsom to the federal corruption investigation that ensnared his former chief of workers, Dana Williamson, partially on account of Podesta sporting a wire, based on Williamson’s lawyer.
The governor’s workplace’s publish struck a notably aggressive tone, describing the federal investigation as a “lawless fishing expedition,” accusing prosecutors of “chasing ghosts” and claiming the trouble to analyze Newsom quantities to political retribution orchestrated by President Trump.
Newsom’s workforce didn’t deal with the governor’s function in empowering and elevating Williamson to probably the most highly effective staffer within the Capitol whereas she was working her schemes, as a substitute deferentially referring to her as Ms. Williamson — even though she was identified to be a “bully” to many on the Capitol.
The governor’s workplace then introduced an eight-part “FACT” sequence to defend Newsom.
“There isn’t any proof that the alleged use of a wire on one of many FBI’s informants is in any approach linked to the Governor,” Newsom staffers posted. “That investigation had nothing to do with the Governor.”
That argument responds to a declare The Submit didn’t make.
A narrative on Thursday reported that Williamson’s lawyer mentioned Podesta wore a wire whereas his shopper didn’t, offering a clearer view of how Podesta has been cooperating with the FBI’s pubic corruption probe in and across the Capitol.
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Many political insiders in Sacramento acquired notices final 12 months from the feds saying they’d been documented as a part of a federal probe, leaving many to suspect that Williamson could have performed a component in recording conversations.
“Alexis wore a wire, and Dana didn’t,” mentioned McGregor Scott, Williamson’s lawyer.
The piece additionally documented Podesta’s longstanding political relationship with Newsom’s administration as a federal probe has now widened to give attention to Newsom and the taxes of his spouse, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Whereas Podesta initially entered state authorities underneath former Gov. Jerry Brown, Newsom retained her after taking workplace and appointed her secretary of the California Enterprise, Shopper Companies and Housing Company, a cabinet-level place she held till departing state authorities in 2020 to launch her Sacramento lobbying agency.
The Submit additionally documented Podesta’s shut working relationship with Williamson and the $61,000-a-year appointment she acquired from Newsom in 2020 to serve on the State Compensation Insurance coverage Fund board.
Officers for the governor’s workplace argued that the story provided “no actual proof [Podesta] was in his ‘orbit.’”
“Underneath the Submit’s concept, each one of many greater than 2,000 appointees to boards and commissions is in some way an ‘ally’ and within the political orbit of the Governor,” officers wrote.
Federal investigators documented conversations between Podesta and Williamson discussing official state enterprise, together with a controversial lawsuit involving Activision Blizzard.
The weird tone within the social media publish could increase broader questions on how Newsom makes use of taxpayer time and sources, because the messaging could possibly be seen by some as much less about finishing up official state enterprise and extra designed to blast out campaign-style political messaging.
A number of members of the Governor’s communications operation, together with senior press officers Izzy Gardon and Brandon Richards, additionally maintain roles with Newsom’s federal political motion committee, Marketing campaign for Democracy.
Richards was paid greater than $27,000 from the PAC in late 2025 and he acquired one other $9,300 in journey reimbursements this 12 months, based on federal marketing campaign filings. Gardon declined to reply questions on his standing as a paid worker of Newsom’s PAC.
The governor’s workplace concluded its tweet storm Friday by saying that reporting on Podesta’s involvment in wiretaps was “not information.”
