’Scorched-Earth Campaign’: Former Top Politico Journo Blasts Old Employer

Politico’s former chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza accused the outlet Saturday of demanding that he delete multiple articles critiquing them for their coverage of President Donald Trump. 

The outlet allegedly demanded that he delete a trio of articles, Lizza wrote in his new news venture Telos News.

Politico Is Demanding I Censor Three More Articles https://t.co/RbwTgQGwEz

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) April 26, 2025

“You are giving Politico no choice but to pursue legal action against you,” Politico’s top lawyer wrote him, according to Lizza. The outlet will seek reimbursement for legal fees, their lawyer reportedly told Lizza.

One of the articles Lizza said Politico asked him to remove accused them of burying a podcast which, according to Lizza, said Trump was “likely to break the law, defy the courts, and pursue an anti-democratic weaponization of the federal government.” (RELATED: US Government Dropped Millions On DC’s Favorite Media Outlet — Here’s What They Spent It On)

“Politico reacted to some mild criticism about its editorial leadership’s approach to covering Trump with a scorched-earth campaign of censorship demands,” Lizza wrote.

Lizza departed Politico after five years and blasted the outlet for kowtowing to President Donald Trump on his way out. 

“I saw up close how easy it was for a media conglomerate to grovel before the Trump administration when the wrong people are in charge,” he wrote in the initial announcement introducing Telos News. 

Lizza criticized Politico’s ownership, German conglomerate Axel Springer, as part of the problem.

“Politico is a part of a German news conglomerate worth billions of dollars, and they have spent all week trying to destroy Telos News, a one-person operation,” he wrote.

“Their absurd campaign of bullying, censorship, and intimidation has been exhausting and has prevented me from working on several other projects, which perhaps is part of their plan here,” he wrote.