Free Republic

Over this past weekend, the front page of New York Magazine’s website advertised: “Yes, the system is rigged.” They should know — their reporters are the ones doing the rigging. The news that Olivia Nuzzi, a New York Mag reporter, was placed on leave for an inappropriate relationship goes far beyond a Beltway romance. It speaks to how the media — even as they claim to want to “stand up for democracy” — corruptly influence the political process, thereby undermining the democratic values they purport to support.‘Inappropriate Relationship’ Belatedly DisclosedOn Thursday, New York Magazine issued a statement announcing that Nuzzi...

It’s no secret that President Trump’s Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci do not much care for each other — and this was BEFORE the The New Yorker piece was published on Thursday. After the November election President Trump asked Anothony Scaramucci to join his Administration. Scaramucci sold his company, SkyBridge Capital, in anticipation of joining President Trump in the White House but Reince Priebus reportedly blocked him from being appointed to a top job within the administration. Late last week President Trump appointed Scaramucci Communications Director despite continued objections from Reince Priebus. Scaramucci was understandably...

Pantheon: A temple dedicated to all the gods. On Monday's New Day, CNN wasted no time this morning in elevating Joe Biden to near-godlike status for doing what Democrats do best: spending unimaginable amounts of taxpayer money, and raising taxes. CNN analyst Ryan Lizza celebrated the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act" as putting Biden in the "pantheon" of greats. “For history, I think it’s a pretty big deal. You know, if you add up those seven pieces of legislation, it’s a $3.5 trillion agenda that Biden and the Democrats have passed since early last year. There’s really nothing like that in...

If you want to get a full sense of why so many Democrats seem to be frustrated with President JOE BIDEN at the moment, here’s one piece you need to read: “Is Biden a Man Out of Time?” by The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein. Whether the specific issue is abortion rights, court reform, voting rights, the filibuster, or the DOJ’s investigation into DONALD TRUMP’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, “[m]any Democrats share a sense that … Biden and his team have been following, not leading. And that tendency points to an enduring question about Biden, who was first elected to...

Democrats are desperately trying to understand what’s roiling the electorate heading into a brutal midterm environment. HIT Strategies has been conducting weekly focus groups to find out in real time how Americans are processing events in 2022. On Monday night we watched discussions with two different subgroups of partisan Democrats assembled by the firm: “Black Base, Always vote for Dems, Ages 25+” and “Youth Base; Always vote for Dems, Ages 25 – 39.” There were significant differences within and between the two groups of nine voters. But there were some broad takeaways: — A preoccupation with inflation and crime. —...

We have been following a slew of defamation lawsuits by political figures over the last few years. (See, e.g., here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). For torts scholars, it has been a bonanza of interesting issues touching on every element of defamation law. There is now an important ruling out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that could have enormous implications not just for the media but anyone who retweets stories or claims. The appellate panel ruled unanimously for Rep. Devin Nunes against journalist Ryan Lizza...

In the span of a few months, the G-10 has gone from the center of politics in DONALD TRUMP’S Washington to the policy sidelines in President JOE BIDEN’S. While these senators mostly despised Trump, they were the engine of policymaking for his final Covid relief bill. While they mostly respect Biden, they have so far been irrelevant to his legislative push despite his inaugural promise of “unity.” It’s been a bewildering change for them. And if you want to understand both why Biden is winning and why his so-far successful formula could be in jeopardy, it’s worth listening closely to...

White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci unloaded on chief of staff Reince Priebus, accusing him of leaking details of a private dinner with President Trump and claiming he will be asked to resign. “Reince is a f------ paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” Scaramucci told New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza in a Wednesday phone call. “They’ll all be fired by me,” he said of the White House communications staff. “I fired one guy the other day. I have three to four people I’ll fire tomorrow. I’ll get to the person who leaked that to you. Reince Priebus — if you want to...

<p>“Reince is a [bleep]ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” Scaramucci said during a Wednesday night phone call.</p> <p>He also told Lizza: “I fired one guy the other day. I have three to four people I’ll fire tomorrow. I’ll get to the person who leaked that to you. Reince Priebus—if you want to leak something—he’ll be asked to resign very shortly.”</p>

Incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci blasted chief strategist Stephen Bannon in a phone call with a reporter from The New Yorker Wednesday night. “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c--k,” Scaramucci reportedly told The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, according to an account of the explosive phone call published Thursday. “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f---ing strength of the president. I’m here to serve the country,” Scaramucci continued on the call.

Esquire’s Ryan Lizza published a lengthy story alleging that Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has a “politically explosive secret,” that he’s a hypocrite on immigration policy, and that when Lizza went to a small town in Iowa to blow open the conspiracy, he was met by odd townspeople who treated him poorly. It turns out that Nunes doesn’t have a secret, that he’s not a hypocrite on immigration policy, and that the Iowans Lizza met were wary of him slowly driving around town while children were at play because they discovered Lizza had recently been fired from his job for sexual...

Democrats and left-wing media have demonized House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) for exposing the Clinton campaign’s role in funding the salacious and unverified “pee dossier” against President Donald Trump, and they are now trying to go after his parents too. Esquire.com published the latest Nunes hit piece on Sunday evening, which involved reporter Ryan Lizza going to Sibley, Iowa, to stalk Devin Nunes’ parents at their home and dairy farm and asking members of their community for dirt on his parents and whether they were employing undocumented workers.

Well, the sexual harassment reckoning that’s sweeping the country has claimed another member of the media: Ryan Lizza. The Georgetown professor and New Yorker writer was fired from the publication earlier this afternoon for “improper sexual conduct.” Georgetown University said that fall semester classes have concluded, but that Mr. Lizza won’t be teaching next semester. In a statement, Lizza denied there was any impropriety, noting that this was a “respectful” relationship with a woman he dated. The lawyer representing Lizza’s accuser said in a separate statement that the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the relationship was anything but...

The New Yorker has let go of its star reporter Ryan Lizza amid allegations of sexual misconduct, the magazine confirmed Monday. “The New Yorker recently learned that Ryan Lizza engaged in what we believe was improper sexual conduct. We have reviewed the matter and, as a result, have severed ties with Lizza,” a spokesperson for the magazine said. “Due to a request for privacy, we are not commenting further.”

Ryan Lizza, a longtime writer for the New Yorker, has been booted from the high-brow magazine amid allegations of "improper sexual conduct." A spokesperson for the magazine confirmed to the Daily News that Lizza was fired on Monday. The spokesperson declined to elaborate on the allegations against Lizza, but said they amounted to "what we believe was improper sexual conduct." "We have reviewed the matter and, as a result, have severed ties with Lizza," the spokesperson said.

While there have been only a smattering of climate change references since Hurricane Harvey took over news cycles, CNN and MSNBC featured more shameful exploitations of the hurricane on Monday to promote climate change as thousands were in need of help from rising flood waters. Perhaps most notably, one New York Times writer on MSNBC knocked the President, questioning his motives for recovery efforts, and used climate change to make a class argument that the poor and especially poor Trump voters are disproportionately going to be targeted by it. CNN, MSNBC Shamefully Blame Climate Change for Harvey, Knock Poor Trump...

Sen. From the News Media John McCain sent what may have been a final “f you” to the American people in the wee hours of the morning, joining quasi-Democrat Susan Collins and the flip-flopping Lisa Murkowski as the 3 GOP votes needed to kill the final effort to get an Obamacare reform bill passed out of the senate. A few minutes prior to casting his vote, Sen. McCain was seen yukking it up with Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor. No doubt they were sharing memories of all the previous times they had joined hands in efforts to screw the...

Link only: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-the-art-of-losing-the-deal

The White House is apparently so desperate to pump anything positive about the disaster known as HealthCare.gov that it took a reporter's ability to "set up an account" as proof that the web site is working fine for some users. Uh, no. Early Thursday afternoon, Ryan Lizza, the Washington correspondent for The New Yorker (also the guy who may have been in the best position to prove that Barack Obama was lying when he said in 2008 that he never read the church bulletins at the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ, and passed), tweeted the following: "I...

Unreal. In an explosive new bombshell report, the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza claims that the Obama administration deliberately kept Fox News reporter James Rosen in the dark about the warrant to search through his personal emails. Some new info in the leak case that targeted Fox's James Rosen coming shortly...— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) May 24, 2013