To recap, New York Mag’s Olivia Nuzzi was engaged to Ryan Lizza (a Politico reporter & editor) when she began an affair with Robert Kennedy Jr. earlier this year. Kennedy and Nuzzi’s affair was mostly digital, and it sounds like it was very passionate on Nuzzi’s side. She was carrying on with Kennedy as she reported on the election and as she failed to disclose the affair to her editors. Even when she was caught by her bosses, she continued to lie about it until she was put on leave. Apparently, Lizza discovered Nuzzi’s affair in July or August. This week, Nuzzi went to court to get a restraining order against Lizza, because she claims Lizza had been blackmailing her, threatening her and hacking into her devices. Well, now she’s getting the FBI involved:
Olivia Nuzzi has escalated her claims against her ex-fiancé Ryan Lizza, filing a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation that accused him of hacking her devices, threatening her with violence, and sabotaging her career as her relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went public.
Nuzzi first unveiled her claims against Politico’s Lizza on Tuesday in a filing in Washington, D.C.’s Superior Court. She accused Lizza of threatening to publicize “personal information about me to destroy my life, career, and reputation—a threat he has since carried out,” according to CNN.
Those claims, Nuzzi told The New York Times on Tuesday, were elevated to the FBI last week. The FBI declined to comment, saying it doesn’t comment on public complaints, though it typically limits its investigations to federal crimes—including hacking.
“I will not comment on an active criminal investigation,” Nuzzi said in a statement to the Daily Beast Wednesday.
As I said yesterday, it may very well be that Lizza is guilty of everything Nuzzi has accused him of. I think the strongest accusation is that Lizza was the one leaking the story of Nuzzi’s affair to other media outlets and journalists, although I’m sure Kennedy was insanely indiscreet too. Now, that being said… I have mixed feelings about a guy trying to ruin his ex-fiancee’s career when she was literally banging a married, 70-year-old, batsh-t crazy presidential candidate. Like, her career *should* be ruined. Lizza sounds awful too, don’t get me wrong, and his ethics are in the toilet too. Is this a case for the FBI? I don’t know. We’ll see.
Additionally, three women have now come out and said that they were having affairs with Kennedy in the past year. All three women are connected to the Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaxx non-profit founded by Kennedy. Nuzzi probably thought she was the only one.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.