A lawsuit looking to block the Ultimate Fighting Championship match being held on the White House grounds was filed over the weekend, arguing that the June 14 event is a “deeply corrupt” corporate handout.
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The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents contends the Trump administration’s authorization of the June 14 event was unlawful. The lawsuit also says such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands.
“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain,” Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told The Associated Press. “And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”
It notes that neither an executive department nor an official entity tied to the U.S.’s semiquincentennial is involved in the “planning, organizing, and executing” of what’s being billed as UFC Freedom 250.
The lawsuit points out that neither the event nor its construction on federal grounds received congressional approval, adding that government space will be used to benefit the UFC and its chief executive, Dana White, who “is a close friend and ally” of President Donald Trump.
“The president is giving White and his company what none have enjoyed before: unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access,” the lawsuit states.
Freedom 250, a public-private partnership overseen by the Trump White House, is a distinct entity from America 250, the nonprofit created by an act of Congress in 2016.
In a statement to WTOP, the Department of the Interior said the UFC match “is no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”
“This is an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our Nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration,” the agency said.
Scott MacFarlane, the chief Washington correspondent for the Meidas Touch Network, joined WTOP’s Mike Murillo to break down the lawsuit.
The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
