A federal lawsuit is seeking to stop the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event scheduled to take place on the White House lawn on Sunday.
Filed on behalf of two Virginia residents by the self-described anti-corruption law firm Public Integrity Project, the lawsuit argues the cage-fighting event titled “UFC Freedom 250” is “deeply corrupt.”
Set to honor America’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s birthday, the event is being organized by the UFC, whose chief executive, Dana White, “is a close friend and ally of the President,” the lawsuit reads.
“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 legal challenge continues.
In a statement accompanying the lawsuit filed over the weekend, Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs—a retired government employee and a Vietnam War veteran—said: “This is a profoundly corrupt scheme to enrich the President and his friends.”
“If this fight is allowed to proceed, it will be only the beginning, and our national monuments will become little more than branding opportunities for the rich and well-connected,” he continued. “We plan to stop that."
Elaborating further, Ballou told TIME in an emailed statement: “The basic question we need ask as a country is whether we want to use our most sacred national monuments to enrich the President and his allies? We think the question answers itself.”
Judge Amit P. Mehta of the Federal District Court in Washington on Monday reportedly asked the legal teams in the case to propose a schedule to hear the emergency request.
When asked backstage during a Miami UFC fight in April why he wanted to host a sporting event as part of the nation’s anniversary celebrations, Trump told TIME: “Well, No. 1, I like it.” He went on to displ
