Alexis Podesta’s Role in the Sacramento Corruption Case

Alexis Podesta’s role in the Sacramento corruption case was twofold: federal prosecutors named the Sacramento political consultant and former California cabinet secretary as an unindicted co-conspirator who processed roughly $180,000 in fraudulent payments from a dormant Xavier Becerra campaign account, and she then cooperated with the FBI and secretly recorded conversations with Dana Williamson, Governor Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, that became key evidence in the 23-count indictment unsealed on November 12, 2025.¹

What Prosecutors Say She Did

At the center of the case is an alleged scheme to siphon $225,000 from a dormant state campaign account titled “Becerra for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2030.” According to prosecutors, the conspiracy ran from about February 2022 through September 2024. Sean McCluskie, formerly Xavier Becerra’s chief of staff, had taken a lower-paying federal position when Becerra became U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and wanted to supplement his income. Williamson and Sacramento lobbyist Greg Campbell allegedly arranged for the dormant campaign to pay $10,000 a month, disguised as compensation for a no-show job purportedly held by McCluskie’s wife.²

Podesta’s part in the mechanics began when Williamson joined the Newsom administration in early 2023 and could no longer bill the campaign herself. Podesta took over the invoicing through her firm, The Podesta Company. Between 2023 and 2024, roughly $180,000 moved from the Becerra committee to The Podesta Company, and Podesta then forwarded the money to an account held by McCluskie’s wife. Prosecutors say McCluskie’s wife did no actual work for the payments.³⁴

Podesta’s connection to Williamson predated the Newsom administration. Williamson and Campbell had founded The Collaborative in 2020, an alliance of California consulting and lobbying firms, and Podesta served as a managing director. When Williamson prepared to become chief of staff in late 2022, she handed off her client list to Podesta.⁵⁶

Cooperation With the FBI and the Recordings

Podesta was named in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator and has not been charged. Her attorney, Bill Portanova, said she cooperated with federal investigators.⁷ After she began cooperating, she recorded conversations with Williamson at the FBI’s direction, and transcripts of those recordings became evidence against Williamson.

One recorded exchange from June 2024, cited in the indictment, captured the two women discussing a whistleblower seeking public records about the Newsom administration’s involvement in the state’s sexual harassment case against Activision Blizzard. Podesta said of the whistleblower: “They don’t really know who they are messing with.” Williamson replied: “They really don’t. It’s bad for them.”⁸ The indictment also alleged that in January 2023, shortly after joining the governor’s office, Williamson told Podesta she had instructed a high-ranking state attorney to “get it settled” in the Activision matter; California later reached a $54 million settlement with the company in December 2023.⁹

No formal plea or cooperation agreement for Podesta has been publicly disclosed, and her cooperation appears to have been voluntary.⁷

Her Account

Portanova maintained that Podesta did not know the campaign payments she processed were fraudulent. In a public statement, Podesta said: “I have always conducted myself — and my business — with integrity.” She added that when she was advised the payments were improper, she “immediately ceased all involvement.”⁶ Becerra himself has not been accused of wrongdoing and has said he had no knowledge of the scheme.²

Who Alexis Podesta Is

Podesta spent roughly two decades moving between California government and the private sector before founding her consulting firm. She served as director of scheduling for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein from 2002 to 2007, worked at The Walt Disney Company and Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and joined Governor Jerry Brown’s office in 2011.¹⁰ Brown appointed her secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency in February 2017, a role she continued under Governor Newsom until January 2020.¹¹ She founded The Podesta Company in 2020, and that same year Newsom appointed her to the board of the State Compensation Insurance Fund.⁷

She is not related to, and should not be confused with, John Podesta, the Washington, D.C. Democratic operative associated with the Podesta Group. A 2024 Politico article about the Becerra campaign filings had inadvertently suggested the payments went to the Podesta Group, and Becerra later clarified in an interview that the consultant handling the account was Alexis Podesta and “is not John Podesta.”¹²

Where the Case Stands Around Her

All three charged defendants have pleaded guilty. McCluskie pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and agreed to pay $225,000 in restitution; his sentencing is set for August 6, 2026.¹³ Campbell pleaded guilty on December 4, 2025, to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States, acknowledging in plea documents that the group’s financial maneuvers amounted to “laundering money” and were “wrong.”¹⁴ Williamson initially pleaded not guilty and then changed her plea on May 14, 2026, pleading guilty to three felonies: conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, subscribing to a false tax return, and making false statements to the FBI. Her attorney said she is not cooperating against other California politicians as part of the deal, and her sentencing is expected in September 2026.¹⁵

Podesta’s Current Status

Podesta has not been charged. She has remained on the board of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, a position that paid about $70,000 in 2023, and continues to attend regularly scheduled meetings. There has been speculation that Newsom might remove her, but no formal action has been taken by the governor’s office or the legislature. Supporters of Williamson are reportedly angry with Podesta for cooperating and for recording Williamson. Podesta has not publicly disclosed her full client list through Form 700 filings with the Fair Political Practices Commission dating back to 2016.⁷ The U.S. Attorney’s Office has said the broader investigation remains ongoing.¹⁶

1
Courthouse News Service. Former Chief of Staff to California Governor Charged in Fraud Scheme
2
CalMatters. Newsom Chief of Staff Indicted
3
Politico. Scandal Singes Becerra in California Governor’s Race
4
Courthouse News Service. Former Xavier Becerra Chief of Staff Pleads Guilty in Fraud Case
5
KCRA. California Political Corruption Case – Who Is Who in The Collaborative
6
Politico. Williamson Indictment Devours Sacramento
7
The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento Corruption Probe Unindicted Co-Conspirator
8
Politico. How California’s Ultimate Power Broker Went Down
9
Los Angeles Times. Indictment of Ex-Newsom Aide Hints at Feds’ Probe Into State Investigation
10
California Governor’s Office. Governor Brown Announces Appointments
11
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Newsom Appoints Agency Secretaries
12
Yahoo News. Becerra Says Investigators Didn’t Tell Him About Fraud
13
KCRA. Sentencing Postponed in McCluskie Fraud Case
14
Courthouse News Service. California Lobbyist Pleads Guilty in Capitol Corruption Case
15
KCRA. Dana Williamson Federal Charges Court Appearance
16
Los Angeles Times. Intercepted Communications Fuel Anxiety Among California Political Players