DOJ's Appeal Against Steve Wynn for Foreign Agent Status Unsuccessful
A higher court has dismissed an appeal lodged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in May 2023 against disgraced former CEO of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynn. Initially, the DOJ wanted Wynn to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) due to claims that he was acting as a Chinese government agent when he urged then-President Donald Trump to deport US-based critic of the Chinese government, Guo Wengui, back to his home country in 2017. FARA requires foreign agents seeking to manipulate US policies to provide certain information.
The DOJ's civil suit, the first in over three decades under FARA, was dismissed by a lower court in October 2022. In this ruling, US District Judge James E. Boasberg didn't challenge the validity of the DOJ's allegations but confirmed that any interaction Wynn might have had with Chinese officials ended in 2017.
On Friday, a panel of three judges from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the lower court’s decision.
"Even if the government's allegations are accurate, Wynn no longer acts as a foreign agent, and he has no ongoing obligation to register," the judges stated.
This decision is a setback for the Justice Department's campaign to expose undeclared foreign interference in American matters.
Who is Guo Wengui?
Previously a billionaire in China, Guo departed his homeland in 2014 after discovering he was set to be arrested on fabricated corruption charges. Guo believes the charges were unjust as he had previously accused Chinese politicians of corruption.
In exile in the US, Guo engaged with right-wing US politics and became an ally of Steve Bannon. In March 2023, Guo was apprehended by federal authorities for allegedly conspiring to steal over $1 billion from his online followers.
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