He really should know better.
Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla had an attorney send an email to Ladra and several other journalists who reported on the illegal nightclub he was caught at in February, demanding a retraction and that we cease and desist with any follow-up coverage.
Good luck with that.
The funniest thing about the email isn’t how ludicrous it is. It’s that it’s from Ben Kuehne, who is also Commissioner Joe Carollo‘s personal attorney. Ladra wonders if Crazy Joe knows he lost his lawyer in the divorce.
ADLP and Kuehne are under the impression that just because there is no body cam footage (so far) of the commissioner poking and pushing Code Compliance Supervisor Suzann Nicholson, who says she suffered a hip injury, then that means it didn’t happen. That’s obviously ridiculous.
It may not have been caught on camera. The camera is not on him the entire time. It may be on the body cam video of two other officers, body cam video that has not been released and will probably get “lost.”
But it doesn’t really matter. Because that makes it a she said/he said situation and Nicholson is a by-the-book, hard-working employee while Diaz de la Portilla hired his bag woman lackey for a no-show job at the Omni CRA. Who has more credibility?
Just for laughs and giggles, here is the Kuehne letter that Ladra was told everyone got, like a form letter. And, yeah, he spelled my name wrong.
“Dear Ms. Del Valle:
On behalf of Alex Diaz de la Portilla, individually and as a City of Miami Commissioner, I request a prompt and complete retraction of your news stories concerning an alleged February 21, 2021 incident at 772 NW 22 Street (Nightclub Incident). Pursuant to 770.01, Florida Statutes (2020), this letter demands an immediate and complete retraction of your articles, broadcasts, and publications on April 1 and 2, 2021. The false, inaccurate, and incomplete descriptions of the alleged incident must be retracted and corrected, and you are further advised to Cease and Desist in the publication of known false information.
Your publication included inaccurate accusations that Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla pushed, poked, hurt, injured, or otherwise harmed Code Officer Suzann Nicholson. Those statements are untrue.
At the time of the publication, you knew or had reason to believe the articles were false and incomplete, and presented Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla in a false and unfair light. You knew about and had possession of official documentation rebutting the contents of your article that you intentionally ignored, omitted, or refused to publish, including Police Incident Report No. 2102210011069 (February 21, 2021), that clearly indicates none of the alleged actions described in your article occurred. You are now additionally in possession of a police body camera recording and an email report by Code Officer Suzann Nicholson, all on the day of the supposed incident and made part of the official public records of the City of Miami. These omitted materials confirmed that Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla engaged in no questionable, objectionable, or improper conduct as was otherwise falsely described in your articles. The materials confirm that the accusations attributed to Code Officer Suzann Nicholson are false.
An immediate retraction is required.
Furthermore, you are hereby put on notice to Cease and Desist in publishing false and defamatory articles concerning the referenced subject. Your continued publication will be further evidence of your actual malice against Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla to cause him personal and professional harm.”
— Ben Kuehne on behalf of Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Aside from spelling my last name wrong, there are other mistakes and falsehoods. Ladra did not get the police body cam video before posting the first story on Political Cortadito. The video arrived in my email Friday morning. And we don’t know how it got out. And it looks like ADLP or his attorney may have gotten it first.
The incident report doesn’t mention the “alleged actions,” but it seems incomplete, with only three lines. It only mentions he was there. It doesn’t say he tried to interfere with code compliance, and the video clearly shows that. So we don’t know from the incident report that there was no pushing.
Also, Ladra posted the incident report. It is right there for everyone to read along with the story. By the way, it was furnished by the commissioner himself, not the police department. So, just like the body cam videos, it looks like he got it first before the press that asked for it got it. Here it is again:
And the headline in Political Cortadito was downright kind. The Miami Herald and Miami New Times headlines were harsher. And better.
Ladra has been doing this a long time and knows what constitutes libel and defamation and this ain’t it. I have a folder full of cease and desist letters from embarrassed electeds. They never actually sue. It’s a tactic to try to silence us. And it ain’t working this time, either.
Attorney David Winker, a legal superhero who loves to take on corrupt politicians, sent Kuehne an email in response. And he spelled my name right. This is it:
“Dear Mr. Kuehne:
I write in response to your letter today to my client Elaine de Valle, in which you demand “a prompt and complete retraction” of her politicalcortadito.com story regarding your client Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla’s presence at an illegal after-hours party in an unlicensed “bar” and his physical confrontation with City of Miami Code Officer Suzann Nicholson.
My client declines to do so.
Nothing in the article is false and everything is based upon public documents provided by the City of Miami. Elaine de Valle is a respected reporter who worked diligently to confirm Officer Nicholson’s account. Further, the article directly quotes Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla on his side of the story of what transpired that night. Finally, the same publicly available information has been published after independent investigation by each of the Miami Herald, Miami New Times, Univision, and NBC6.
But there is a more important issue here. Violence against women is an issue of national concern and Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla’s efforts to silence Officer Nicholson fall into a familiar pattern and are not acceptable.
If Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla disagrees, if he believes that Miami residents have no right to hear from Officer Nicholson, and those who would dare criticize him must stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have the court set him straight.”
— Attorney David Winker on behalf of Ladra
“Declines to do so?” Isn’t that sweet? Ladra’s response would have been less sweet. And less long.
No, not “sue me.” But it was two words.
ADLP gets an attorney to go after the press for reporting his illegal partying added by Ladra on
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