A political scandal that initially made headlines in 2007 has resurfaced this week, driven by a new first-person account from Ruby Rippey, the woman at the center of the affair with then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Rippey published a personal essay in Vanity Fair on Tuesday, offering her detailed version of events surrounding the relationship, which occurred while she served as Newsom's appointments secretary and her husband, Alex Tourk, managed Newsom’s campaign.
"She listens, then says simply: ‘I wouldn’t say anything right now, Ruby. Just pause. More time will give you better perspective." — Ruby Rippey, Author of Vanity Fair Essay
The essay's most striking revelation involves Kamala Harris, who was San Francisco's District Attorney when the scandal became public. Rippey alleges that Harris reached out privately to offer guidance during the immediate fallout. According to Rippey, Harris advised her against speaking publicly or pursuing a book deal at that time. Rippey recalled the exchange in her essay: "She listens, then says simply: ‘I wouldn’t say anything right now, Ruby. Just pause. More time will give you better perspective.'" As of publication, neither Harris nor any representative on her behalf has issued a public response to these claims.
Beyond the alleged interaction with Harris, Rippey's essay directly challenges aspects of Newsom’s own retelling of events in his memoir. Rippey disputes Newsom's claim that he was the one who "came clean" to Tourk, asserting that she had already confessed the affair to her husband before Newsom's conversation with his campaign manager. Rippey recounted asking a Newsom advisor point-blank whether the governor’s memoir was truthful, to which the advisor reportedly replied, "Well, we all remember things differently, don’t we, Ruby?"
Rippey's essay provides a step-by-step account of the affair's origins, which she states began during her tenure at City Hall. She described a pattern of encounters, including time spent together in a hot tub, overnight stays in hotels, and visits to Newsom's penthouse on Russian Hill. One passage details a specific trip to The Carneros Inn. Rippey wrote, “The next clear memory is getting into the back of my boss’s chauffeured town car, heading to The Carneros Inn.” She further elaborated on the journey: “I stretch my legs across the center console and let my heels fall off. He is in the front seat. He takes one of my feet and begins to massage it, the gesture half-hidden inside the loud car.” Rippey describes waking up next to Newsom the following morning, indicating that the affair continued for several months.
She characterized the underlying dynamic of the relationship in candid terms, stating, “We meet and we drink. There is sex, but it isn’t the point. The point is proximity — to power, to being chosen, to feeling newly visible — no longer muted by pregnancy, by new motherhood, by the strain of white-knuckling long stretches of sobriety.” Rippey also recounted a comment Newsom allegedly made after the birth of her first child, during a meal at a Mexican restaurant, where she says he told her, “Hey — you look really good … You’ve lost all your pregnancy weight.”
While Rippey acknowledged her own agency in entering the affair willingly, she noted that hindsight had altered her perspective on the inherent power imbalance. She wrote that “power does not need to coerce. It only needs to exist.” The affair became public knowledge after Rippey informed her husband via email, which led Tourk to confront Newsom directly and resign from the campaign immediately. Newsom publicly admitted to the affair during a 2007 news conference shortly thereafter, also announcing his intention to seek treatment for alcohol abuse.
Rippey's essay extends beyond the affair itself, chronicling her subsequent struggle with alcoholism, the eventual dissolution of her marriage, and her long journey toward sobriety in the years that followed. Fox News Digital obtained a statement from a Newsom spokesperson responding to the essay’s publication. The statement read, “The Governor acknowledged his role and publicly apologized nearly two decades ago when he was still mayor.” The spokesperson added that Newsom has since remarried, started a family, and shifted his focus toward his official duties. The statement concluded that Newsom “addressed this chapter of his life, including in his memoir, and out of respect for everyone involved, does not have anything further to add.”
The resurfacing of these details, particularly those involving Kamala Harris, brings renewed attention to a past political scandal that continues to resonate due to the prominence of the figures involved today.
