It's Game On at the White House for the UFC event set to take place there this weekend. D.C. District Judge Amit Mehta (an Obama appointee, FWIW) just body-slammed an eleventh-hour effort to stop President Trump’s White House UFC extravaganza, denying plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) or preliminary injunction request outright.
Because everything requires litigation these days (maybe I shouldn't have pivoted from law to media?), plaintiffs in this case filed suit last week in a bid to put a halt to the event. They contended that the White House and Lincoln Memorial were being unlawfully turned into commercial UFC venues and claimed violations of National Park Service (NPS) regulations, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and federal construction laws.
We know there would be a quick turnaround on the ruling (of necessity). On Thursday, Judge Mehta indicated he did not need to hear argument from the parties and would be deciding the case based on the briefs. Early Friday afternoon, he issued his Memorandum Opinion denying the plaintiffs' request for relief for lack of standing and an inability to show they would be irreparably harmed by allowing the event to proceed.
In his blessedly brief opinion (only 15 pages), Mehta repeatedly characterizes plaintiffs’ injuries as generalized grievances and “ancillary” aesthetic objections rather than concrete harms. (Sounds a lot like some other pending lawsuits, no?) He also emphasizes that plaintiffs delayed too long in seeking emergency relief despite public knowledge of the event and visible construction activity for weeks.
One plaintiff (Susan Douglas) claimed the giant UFC staging structure — dubbed “the Claw” — was “hideous,” “grotesque,” and “disgusting.” Another (Paul Romano) claimed his rideshare work could place him near the event. However, Mehta was unmoved, noting that the plaintiffs' claims don't rise to the level of "a cognizable aesthetic injury," particularly since Douglas' only planned reason to be in the vicinity is to protest the event, and only a “serendipitous rideshare trip” would place Romano there.
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To the plaintiffs' protestations that the President recently suggested in a TikTok video that the Claw might "never" come down, Mehta responds:
The President’s musings about permanency of the Claw does not move the dial in the face of a White House official’s clear representation. Fisher Decl. ¶ 8. Such ancillary and ephemeral harm is not sufficiently “great” to warrant extraordinary relief. See Dorfmann v. Boozer, 414 F.2d 1168, 1173 (D.C. Cir. 1969). And as discussed below, any significant environmental damage is doubtful.
Mehta also finds that equitable considerations strongly favor defendants because of the enormous logistical and financial commitments already made:
- $60 million invested
- 700+ subcontractors
- thousands of individuals/security clearances
- 4,000 attendees expected onsite
- 120,000 expected at the Ellipse
- “millions” expected to watch remotely
Is Mehta a closet MMA fan? Who's to say? Either way, he just delivered a knock-out blow to the plaintiffs' efforts to scuttle the event, and, barring a last-minute, emergency appeal, the fights will go on as planned.
I expect President Trump has received countless birthday cards over the years, but perhaps this is the first to come in the form of a court ruling.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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