The Olivia Nuzzi/RFK, Jr. Scandal Takes a Dark Turn

By Dustin Rowles | News | October 2, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | News | October 2, 2024 |

In 2017, Ryan Lizza was fired from The New Yorker after an anonymous woman with whom he had a relationship reported that he had engaged in sexual misconduct. An internal review by The New Yorker led to his termination, although the details of that relationship have never been made public.

However, it didn’t take long for Lizza to find another job, and other internal investigations did not reach the same conclusions as that of The New Yorker. He is now the Chief Washington Correspondent for Politico, though he’s currently on leave after a judge approved his ex-fiancée Olivia Nuzzi’s request for a temporary restraining order against him.

As the NYTimes reports, Nuzzi claims that Lizza — to whom she became engaged in 2022 — was involved in a campaign of harassment and blackmail against her. Nuzzi, who also claims she spoke to the FBI about Lizza, alleged that he stole one device and hacked others in order to gather information to compel her to stay in a relationship with him. She also suggests that it was Lizza who informed her boss, David Haskell, at New York Magazine about her digital affair with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Nuzzi further claimed that Lizza threatened her with violence if she did not assume the financial responsibility for their joint book contract and that he “explicitly threatened to make public personal information about me to destroy my life, career, and reputation — a threat he has since carried out.”

Lizza denies the allegations, claiming that Nuzzi is using “false accusations against me as a way to divert attention from her own personal and professional failings.” Lizza and Politico have “mutually agreed” that he will take a leave of absence while this situation is resolved.

It is worth noting that in addition to an ethically inappropriate relationship with a married man, RFK Jr., Nuzzi has a checkered history, including dabbling in the birtherism conspiracy theory against Barack Obama, seeking out a friendship with Ann Coulter, and breaking into Corey Lewandowski’s office. None of this excuses Ryan Lizza’s alleged behavior.