Filing says organizing of UFC White House event was unlawful - ESPN

Plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed late Saturday are attempting to halt the June 14 UFC Freedom 250 card on the South Lawn of the White House.

The suit, filed by the Public Integrity Project in District of Columbia federal court, alleges that the Department of Interior and the National Park Service violated federal law by organizing a private sporting event on public property and failing to obtain congressional approval for the event's multiple construction sites. An emergency application for a preliminary injunction to stop the event was filed early Sunday morning in the same court.

The suit claims violations of park service regulations by allowing the event to occur, that the construction of the UFC's claw stadium structure on the South Lawn needed congressional authorization because it is federal parkland, and that there was not an environmental review «before undertaking 'major federal action' significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.»

«We think that this is a profound misuse of our sacred national monuments for private gain,» said Brendan Ballou, the lead attorney for the Public Integrity Project. «And we think that needs to be stopped because it breaks the law.»

Ballou said he anticipates a ruling on the emergency injunction application this week. The Public Integrity Project describes itself as an anti-corruption law firm with offices in Washington.

A Trump administration official took umbrage with the suit in an emailed statement to ESPN on Sunday.

«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