Charles Krupa / AP
Former Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn gestures at a news conference in Medford, Mass., March 15, 2016.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 | 3:41 p.m.
The Department of Justice on Monday filed a “civil enforcement action” against Steve Wynn that requires the former chairman of Wynn Resorts to register as a foreign agent.
According to a news release, Wynn lobbied then-President Donald Trump in 2017 on behalf of the Chinese government to “cancel the visa or otherwise remove” a Chinese businessperson from the U.S.
The action was brought under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and represents the first time in over three decades a civil lawsuit has been filed under the act, the release said.
Wynn resigned from his former position as chairman and chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts in 2018 following allegations of sexual misconduct.
According to the Justice Department, Wynn made contact with Trump and other members of his administration on multiple occasions from at least June 2017 through August 2017.
Wynn, 80, reached out to Trump and other senior administration officials at the request of Sun Lijun, then an executive with China’s Ministry of Public Security, according to the release.
At the time of the requests, as noted by the U.S. government, Wynn oversaw a company, Wynn Resorts, that operated casinos in Macau, a special administrative region in China.
Wynn refused to register as a foreign agent, which led eventually to the filing, according to the complaint.
Wynn was driven by his desire to “protect his business interests in the (People’s Republic of China),” according to the complaint.
“The filing of this suit demonstrates the department’s commitment to ensuring transparency in our democratic system,” Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department, said in a statement. “Where a foreign government uses an American as its agent to influence policy decisions in the United States, FARA gives the American people a right to know.”
