Biden DOJ sues GOP donor Steve Wynn to make him register as Chinese agent

The Biden Justice Department is suing casino mogul and Republican fundraiser Steve Wynn to force him to register as a foreign agent acting on behalf of China.

The agency is accusing Wynn of lobbying then-President Donald Trump and his administration from June 2017 to at least August of that year. During that time, Wynn pushed the president to deport a Chinese businessperson residing in the United States.

The unnamed Chinese national was later charged with corruption by the People's Republic of China and sought political asylum in the United States. The efforts to remove the Chinese businessperson were unsuccessful, according to the complaint.

Wynn acted on behalf of a Chinese Communist Party official, the DOJ stated. 

"Wynn conveyed the request directly to the then-President over dinner and by phone, and he had multiple discussions with the then-President and senior officials at the White House and National Security Council about organizing a meeting with... PRC government officials," the Justice Department claimed.

While lobbying the White House, Wynn's company owned and operated several casinos in a special administrative region of China. The agency says Wynn acted at the request of the Communist government in order to protect his own business interests.

"The filing of this suit – the first affirmative civil lawsuit under FARA in more than three decades – demonstrates the department’s commitment to ensuring transparency in our democratic system," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division 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."

Wynn, a top GOP fundraiser, stepped down from his role as Republican National Committee finance chair after he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018, according to Axios.