A federal judge in Washington has ruled that casino magnate Steve Wynn cannot be ordered to register as a foreign agent of China by the DOJ. The Justice Department had sued for a court order back in May, claiming that Wynn had breached the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by lobbying for former President Trump at China’s behest in 2017.
Wynn’s attorneys have always denied that he was ever an agent of the Chinese Government and merely passed on information. US District Judge James Boasberg stated that, because any relationship between Wynn and the Chinese Government ended in 2017, the GOP donor was not obliged to register under the FARA.
Boasberg clarified that he was not determining whether Wynn had lobbied for Chinese interests in the past. These accusations stem from the former Wynn Resorts CEO’s business interests in China, specifically through its Wynn Macau properties.
Boasberg also stated that the DOJ could continue to pursue criminal sanctions against Wynn for failing to disclose the alleged lobbying, so long as the statute of limitations had not expired.
Steve Wynn still faces a litany of legal battles. A civil racketeering case against him will be brought in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California in December. This case alleges that he paid off judges who were making rulings on a sexual assault case against him made by former Wynn Resorts employee Angelica Limcaco.
Limcaco’s legal team claimed that Wynn inserted Barbara Buckley, the recipient of numerous donations from Wynn Resorts, as a magistrate judge in the 2019 Nevada ruling, where her case was thrown out. A follow-up case in October 2021 was also dismissed.
However, Limcaco alleges Wynn “exerted improper influence over public officials in the manner in which they do business.” The civil racketeering case is scheduled for December 6 in Long Beach, California, after Wynn Resorts lost a request for summary judgment.
