Ari Cohn
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
That because the word target has this specialized use in this one particular case, that it's defamatory to say they are the target of an investigation. That's nonsense for a few reasons, not least of which is because nobody reading the Miami Herald reads the word target and thinks, oh, yeah, you mean the definition in the justice manual, which most people don't even know exists.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
Anyone reading this statement in the Miami Herald would know immediately that the meaning is that MSP recovery is the one being investigated. Like that is very clear. It is unreasonable to claim that anyone would think otherwise. Like it is just the worst kinds of like trying to nitpick on formalistic legal technology. And for what it's worth, the courts.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
don't hold journalists to the proper use of formal legal terminology, specifically because this could happen, because it would become very dangerous to report on legal proceedings because you say one thing and you take the normal meaning of it rather than the formal legal meaning of it, and somebody sues you for defamation.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
It's literally, I mean, like you said, it's the whiniest thing I've ever seen. It's just not going to stick.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
No, subject has a meaning in the Justice Manual, too. But if the Miami Herald had said MSP recovery is being investigated, like, they wouldn't have even had this whiny hook. And that's clearly what targeted investigation means in the common parlance. So it's just I don't know why they think that a judge is going to look at this and do anything but say, why the fuck are you wasting my time?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
There's like two and a half pages of bullet points about the various people who have vetted MSP recovery's procedures and algorithms, which has nothing to do with anything. It's very bizarre. It is exactly the kind of self-aggrandizing nonsense that you would expect if John Ruiz had written the complaint, which he may well have.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
for publishing- He implies it, but he doesn't make it into any of the counts for some reason, so I don't really know whether they forgot about it or I don't know. Who knows? But yeah, in any event, you are allowed to report on what a legal document or what is said during a legal proceeding as long as you do it fairly and accurately.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
If you're describing what Kano Health is claiming about MSP recovery, yeah, you're going to repeat some of the things that John Ruiz thinks is false.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
like you you're allowed to report accurately on what the legal document contains so he's out of luck there it just seems like he thinks that nobody should be allowed to criticize john ruiz and if you do then you have to print john ruiz's side of things too otherwise you change and by the way in the article about the cano health lawsuit the miami real actually does tell
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
msp recovery side of things and talks about the lawsuit that msp recovery filed against kano so it's like really really whiny last question five billion dollars it doesn't appear he's suing for five billion dollars the press release headline says that but what is he suing for what remedy and or punishment against the hell does he want he definitely does want money and i wouldn't be surprised to hear him say the five billion dollars in the litigation which
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
like, strikes to me as, like, source crack pipe meme territory. He also wants an injunction against the Miami Herald publishing anything about John Ruiz ever again. What? Yes, he wants an injunction. He wants a prior restraint so the Miami Herald can never say anything about John Ruiz ever again, which is not only just deeply f***ing stupid...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
it is also flagrantly obviously unconstitutional and i just it's absurd that the thought to actually ask for that would even cross his mind it just it goes to show how deep up his own whatever his head is we call it a culo kind of sounds like uh what the uh current president of the united states is doing Well, there are some similarities between their personality.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
And when I say that, I mean, John Ruiz just really wishes he was Donald Trump and like tries to emulate him in every way. And like, say what you will about whether or not Donald Trump pulls it off. There's one thing that is certain is John Ruiz does not pull it off.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
I mean, that's rhetorical hyperbole and opinion, so no.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
I mean, it's not just that it reads like an autobiography. It's that on the docket, at least as of, I think, like last weekend, I don't know if this has changed, but there was no lawyer for John Ruiz listed on the docket other than John Ruiz. So he would have filed it by himself, it looks like.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
msp recovery or i'm very close it says msp recovery filed on behalf of him which could make sense if they were maybe like listed as his attorney but that would still be a weird way of saying it
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
But also, let's kind of just get to one of the big picture issues of why none of this makes any sense, is that one of the primary claims here, and we'll get to why it's bullshit in a second, but one of the claims is that the Miami Herald defamed MSP recovery by saying it was the target of federal investigations.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
Now, if MSP recovery is the party that was defamed, MSP recovery has to be the party that sued, but the only named plaintiff is John Ruiz. So who is suing what attorneys representing who for what and who are the part? Like it, none of it makes any sense at all. MSP recovery isn't listed as a party. So I don't know how MSP being defamed has anything to do with the price of tea in China.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
Yeah, these are mistakes that somebody straight out of law school wouldn't have made. You have to have the proper parties. It's beyond rookie mistake. It's just incomprehensible how somebody could make these mistakes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
Yeah, well, you know, there is such a thing as the defamation proof plaintiff where, you know, their reputation is so shot already that nothing you say could possibly lower their esteem in the eyes of the community anymore. It takes a lot to get there. I don't know necessarily if they're there yet, but yikes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
I mean, what's going on is obviously that John Ruiz doesn't like when people criticize his company. And he seems to think that...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
his word should be taken as gospel and anyone who doesn't credit his word um should i guess have to pay him five billion dollars i don't know um even when his word uh appears to be worth very little all things considered over the course of his history um you know it's it's quite bizarre it's really it's a strange lawsuit it doesn't really make any sense um is any of the defamation it reads to me as desperate honestly
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
I mean, well, he gives the wrong definition for defamation at one point in the claim, so that's not really promising. I assume that maybe he has a vague general idea of what defamation is. I have zero idea. Zero belief, however, that he actually knows the ins and outs of defamation law and how one pleads it and proves it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
I had my suspicions of that a year or whatever ago where he started threatening to sue people for defamation on Twitter and then got mad at me for telling him that he couldn't do that because it wasn't going to stick. And now that this has been filed, I am just absolutely certain that he has no f***ing idea what he's talking about.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
You think John Ruiz needs anyone telling him what he does and doesn't know? John Ruiz, discount Dan Donald Trump. You know, he's the greatest you've ever seen. Yeah, he's Dan Trump.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
I'm so glad I wasn't aware of that until right now.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
He did indeed. A litigator of national magnitude who can't figure out who the proper plaintiff is in a case, I suppose. It's not really, again, not really promising.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
Yeah, it's really strange because they acknowledge that there is there are investigations and that they are the ones being investigated. Do not take any issue with that contention.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Man Behind the Curtain
what they seem to be claiming is that because the department of justice's justice manual in the context of talking about the rights and policies and procedures when someone is called to testify in front of a grand jury call someone a target if they are if there is substantial evidence linking them to the commission of the crime