3 months ago
The Ultimate Fighting Championship gala extravaganza hasencountered a legal hitch.
On Friday, the Public Integrity Project—a firm with the missionstatement to "stop corruption"—sued the U.S. government on behalfof two individuals from Virginia. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District ofColumbia (D.D.C.), defendants include the Acting Director of theNational Park Service (NPS) Jessica Bowron, the National CapitalRegion Director of the NPS Jen Nersesian, the U.S. Department ofthe Interior and its Secretary, Doug Burgum. The plaintiffs requestthat the court deems the organization of the event itself unlawfuland shuts it down, while removing the structures built on the WhiteHouse lawn to accommodate the fight card.
In the suit itself, the demand for relief declares that thearrangement between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the WhiteHouse is corrupt, partially due to the personal relationshipbetween President Donald Trump and UFC President and CEO DanaWhite. The lawsuit goes on to point out that the President willgive "unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial tostage a private, for-profit sports event."
Attorney Brendan Ballou put out a statement to the ******* ociated Pressin regards to the suit. In it, he briefly the reason for why thePublic Integrity Project got involved.
"This is a fundamentally private, commercial, corrupt use of ourmost sacred national monuments for private gain. And that is whatis motivating this lawsuit," Ballou stated.
The grounds for the suit include that the event violates NPSregulations that specifically write the NPS will not permit thestaging of a sporting event that is "conducted primarily for thematerial or financial benefit of a for-profit entity."Additionally, the suit offers that the construction of the UFCstage required congressional approval that was not sought. It alsosuggests that the required environmental impact review to buildthis arena in this location was not run.
The White House had a short response shrugging off the suit,positing that it was no more than obstructionism. In it, the WhiteHouse remarked that this UFC show would be "no different than thevarious other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn andproperly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mallthroughout the year."
On Friday, the Public Integrity Project—a firm with the missionstatement to "stop corruption"—sued the U.S. government on behalfof two individuals from Virginia. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District ofColumbia (D.D.C.), defendants include the Acting Director of theNational Park Service (NPS) Jessica Bowron, the National CapitalRegion Director of the NPS Jen Nersesian, the U.S. Department ofthe Interior and its Secretary, Doug Burgum. The plaintiffs requestthat the court deems the organization of the event itself unlawfuland shuts it down, while removing the structures built on the WhiteHouse lawn to accommodate the fight card.
In the suit itself, the demand for relief declares that thearrangement between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the WhiteHouse is corrupt, partially due to the personal relationshipbetween President Donald Trump and UFC President and CEO DanaWhite. The lawsuit goes on to point out that the President willgive "unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial tostage a private, for-profit sports event."
Attorney Brendan Ballou put out a statement to the ******* ociated Pressin regards to the suit. In it, he briefly the reason for why thePublic Integrity Project got involved.
"This is a fundamentally private, commercial, corrupt use of ourmost sacred national monuments for private gain. And that is whatis motivating this lawsuit," Ballou stated.
The grounds for the suit include that the event violates NPSregulations that specifically write the NPS will not permit thestaging of a sporting event that is "conducted primarily for thematerial or financial benefit of a for-profit entity."Additionally, the suit offers that the construction of the UFCstage required congressional approval that was not sought. It alsosuggests that the required environmental impact review to buildthis arena in this location was not run.
The White House had a short response shrugging off the suit,positing that it was no more than obstructionism. In it, the WhiteHouse remarked that this UFC show would be "no different than thevarious other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn andproperly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mallthroughout the year."
