The sleazy betrayal that nearly broke Gavin Newsom is back in the spotlight

Gavin Newsom may be a Democratic Party star, but skeletons from his tenure as San Francisco mayor — namely a scandalous affair that nearly derailed his career — could haunt his White House ambitions.Ruby Rippey-Gibney, the former City Hall aide who had a brief sexual relationship with Newsom in 2005, plans to tell her side of the explosive story in an upcoming Vanity Fair article, The California Post reported Wednesday.While details of the piece are unknown, the story could dredge up details of the embarrassing affair that Newsom admitted to in 2007, when he was wrapping up a tumultuous first term as mayor that included reports of hard partying and philandering — including a fling with 19-year-old college student Brittanie Mountz when he was 38.But Newsom’s affair with Rippey-Gibney, who was then married to his close friend and top aide Alex Tourk, was a new low for the hot-to-trot political star.“Everything you’ve heard and read is true,” Newsom acknowledged at a press conference in February 2007.“And I am deeply sorry about that.” The affair took place after Newsom’s separation from first wife Kimblerly Guilfoyle, who later became a Fox News host and ambassador to Greece under President Donald Trump.Rippey-Gibney, then called Ruby Rippey-Tourk and Newsom’s appointments secretary, was struggling with substance abuse issues and self-destructive behavior, she later admitted after entering rehab.Tourk was Newsom’s aide and campaign manager who advised the rising political star on homelessness and other policy.

The now-California governor — who is expected to launch a presidential bid — called the tryst the “stupidest and also briefest of affairs and “the worst betrayal” of his life in his recent memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.” He wrote that his sister, Hillary Newsom, “could see a connection sparking” between him and Rippey-Gibney and gave her a talking-to.“Ruby was drinking too much and so was I.Her marriage was frayed ...