Ex-Las Vegas Casino Tycoon Steve Wynn Accused Of Lobbying For China

LAS VEGAS — Former Las Vegas casino tycoon Steve Wynn has been sued by the Justice Department to compel him to register as a foreign agent due to lobbying work that authorities said he conducted at the behest of the Chinese government during the Trump administration.

The department said Tuesday it repeatedly told Wynn for four years to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and is now suing because Wynn refused, according to The Associated Press.

Wynn in 2017 encouraged former President Donald Trump to deport a Chinese businessman who was accused of corruption and sought asylum in the United States, the lawsuit alleged. His efforts proved ultimately unsuccessful.Wynn was serving as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee at the time.

Wynn's lobbying was done on behalf of senior Chinese government officials, including the country's then-vice minister of the Ministry of Public Security, who sought Wynn's help in trying to get the Chinese national's new visa application denied, authorities said.

"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," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the head of the department's National Security Division, said in a statement.

Wynn's lawyers told media outlets in a statement Tuesday they would contest the lawsuit.

"Steve Wynn has never acted as an agent of the Chinese government and had no obligation to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act," attorneys Reid Weingarten and Brian Heberlig said in a statement obtained by AP. "We respectfully disagree with the Department of Justice's legal interpretation of FARA and look forward to proving our case in court."

Wynn also brought up the topic during a dinner with Trump and other members of his administration in June 2017, even providing passport photos of the person to Trump’s secretary, authorities said, according to The New York Times. Wynn also broached the subject during unscheduled meetings with Trump in August 2017, and during a phone conversation while on a yacht near Italy.

Federal authorities said Wynn was trying to protect his business interests in China. Wynn ultimately stepped down from his company, Wynn Resorts, in 2018 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. Wynn Resorts owned and operated casinos in Macau at the time, and the government limited the number of gaming tables and machines that could operate at Wynn's casino, the Justice Department said. He planned to renegotiate licenses to operate casinos in 2019.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.