Trump-Backer Steve Wynn Sued by DOJ to Register as a Foreign Agent Working For China

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Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn is being sued by the Justice Department, which is seeking to compel him to register as a foreign agent.

The DOJ alleges Wynn, who has significant business interests in China, attempted to influence the White House to send an exiled businessman back to the country. Wynn has donated millions to Republican candidates over the years, including $729,217 to Trump’s inauguration through his company, Wynn Resort, according to Insider.

Reuters reported:

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday sued former Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn to compel him to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of China.

The department said Wynn had contacted then-President Donald Trump and members of his administration in 2017 to convey China’s request to cancel the visa or otherwise remove a Chinese businessperson who had sought political asylum in the United States.

Wynn reportedly hand-delivered a letter to former President Donald Trump in 2017 which was from the Chinese government and sought the expulsion of a Chinese businessman Guo Wengui.

CNBC reported:

The billionaire CEO of Wynn Resorts, who maintains substantial holdings in the Chinese region of Macau, hand-delivered a letter to President Donald Trump written by the Chinese government, the Journal reported. The letter urged the president to return Guo Wengui, a Chinese businessman who fled the country in 2014 and is now seeking asylum in the United States.

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Wynn’s China properties account for a significant share of his business. Those properties include the Wynn Macau and the Wynn Palace, a $4.1 billion gambling giant that opened in Macau in 2016.

At the time of Wynn’s reported activity on behalf of Beijing, Wengui was a member of Trump’s exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort. Wynn, meanwhile, was the finance chair for the Republican National Committee.

Wengui was never sent back to China, but he was accused in 2019 of being a spy for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has a close business relationship with the Chinese businessman. He was arrested on Wengui’s luxury yacht in 2020 over allegations he defrauded a private campaign to fund Trump’s border wall.

Wengui later filed for bankruptcy.