The New Yorker reporter who brought down former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, has been fired for ‘improper sexual conduct’.
Ryan Lizza has released a statement saying he was dismayed at the decision by his former employer to fire him for what he called a ‘respectful, consensual relationship’ with a woman he dated.
One person who won’t be mourning his disappearance will be Anthony ‘The Mooch’ Scaramucci.
Scaramucci was fired just ten days into his role as communications director after Lizza published a secret recording of a phone call between him and The Mooch where the White House executive railed on his colleagues.
Ryan Lizza (pictured, April 29) has released a statement saying he was dismayed at the decision by his former employer to fire him for what he called a ‘respectful, consensual relationship’ with a woman he dated.
In the now infamous phone call that took place on July 26, Scramaucci called the former White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus a ‘f***ing paranoid schizophrenic’ and a ‘c*** blocker and accused him of leaking his financial information to ProPublica.
He then accused senior White House strategist Steve Bannon of ‘sucking his own c***’.
Lizza revealed that he received the phone call at his home at 10.30pm and that, when it ended, he immediately downloaded the audio and titled it ‘Insane Scaramucci Interview’.
‘It was so unusual. In 20 years of doing this, I’ve never had a phone conversation like that,’ he told David Remnick on the The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast.
Lizza published Scaramucci’s comments in a story in the New Yorker and a short time later, The Mooch resigned.
In an interview with HuffPost, Scaramucci said he felt burned by the published article.
‘The Lizzas and Scaramuccis have been friends for over 50 years. My dad knew his dad from construction, and we were building a personal relationship,’ he said.
‘Most of what I said was humorous and joking. Legally, it may have been on the record, but the spirit of it was off. And he knew that.’
He called Lizza a ‘lowlife’.
Lizza has always debated the fact that he and Scaramucci were friends.
One person who won’t be mourning his disappearance will be Anthony ‘The Mooch’ Scaramucci
‘I’ve only known Anthony in his capacity as a Trump surrogate and then White House communications director. We are not and have never been “old family friends”, though I think our fathers knew each other, so maybe that’s what he’s talking about,’ he told HuffPost.
‘But again, that would not be a reason to suppress an explosive on-the-record interview.’
Now it’s the writer who has come under fire as he was accused of ‘improper sexual conduct’.
He has released a statement refuting the allegations and criticizing the New Yorker for letting him go.
He said: ‘I am dismayed that The New Yorker has decided to characterize a respectful relationship with a woman I dated as somehow inappropriate. The New Yorker was unable to cite any company policy that was violated.’
I am sorry to my friends, workplace colleagues, and loved ones for any embarrassment this episode may cause. I love The New Yorker, my home for the last decade, and I have the highest regard for the people who work there.
‘But this decision, which was made hastily and without a full investigation of the relevant facts, was a terrible mistake.’