Trump argues lawsuit seeking to halt White House UFC fight was brought too ‘late’
By Devan Cole, CNN
(CNN) — The Trump administration is urging a federal judge to reject a bid to stop an upcoming UFC fight at the White House, arguing that a lawsuit from two Virginia residents against the event was brought too late to justify judicial intervention now.
Justice Department lawyers told US District Judge Amit P. Mehta that a ruling blocking the event, which is set to take place this coming weekend, would upend months of careful planning and unfairly burden a host of parties on the other side of the case, including President Donald Trump, thousands of spectators and more than a dozen athletes expected to participate in the event.
“No one is holding plaintiffs in a jiu jitsu lock, forcing them to watch UFC Freedom 250 against their will. The public interest does not favor allowing them to exercise a heckler’s veto, particularly at this late date,” the government attorneys wrote in a court filing, referring to claims from the two plaintiffs that the event was causing them to suffer an “aesthetic injury,” among other alleged harms.
“Plaintiffs’ aesthetic interests are dwarfed by the amount of time, labor, and funding that has been invested in reliance upon an understanding that the planned activities will take place,” they wrote. “Not to mention the excitement of fans and service members planning to attend or watch remotely. Plaintiffs did nothing for months while these costs accrued. On the equities, this is not a close call.”
The administration said any “delay” in the event “could jeopardize the health of the 14 professional athletes involved in the event, as prolonged weight cutting can result in heat injuries, urinary and kidney problems including kidney failure, seizures, and hypovolemic shock.”
The lawsuit was filed Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of a Vietnam War veteran and a civic activist.
Judges weighing emergency requests like the one at hand consider several factors, including whether doing so would is overly unfair to one side or the other and whether they think there’s a public interest in halting a government action.
But they also look at the strength of the claims being pushed in the underlying lawsuit. In the UFC case, which was brought last weekend, the plaintiffs contend that officials circumvented federal rules and regulations to allow the privately run event to take place on government property, including by allegedly violating a law requiring congressional approval before any structure can be erected on public land in Washington, DC.
In recent days, a massive structure has been built on the White House’s South Lawn to hold the fight, which is set to take place on Sunday, a day after a ceremonial weigh-in occurs at the Lincoln Memorial.
The Justice Department told Mehta that all of the claims asserted by the two Virginians are “meritless.” They said federal law does not require Congress to approve “temporary structures” on the White House grounds and that the “claw” will be disassembled starting Monday.
The judge has not scheduled a hearing over the plaintiffs’ request for an emergency court order halting the event. Lawyers for the challengers have asked the appointee of former President Barack Obama to make a decision on their request by Thursday.
“The harm here is irreparable in the most basic sense: it cannot be undone once it occurs,” they wrote in court papers filed. “Once the cage fights are staged on the South Lawn and the weigh-ins are held at the Lincoln Memorial, the violation of the character and sanctity of these monumental spaces will be complete and incapable of remedy through later proceedings.”
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