By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a U.S. Justice Department attempt to revive a lawsuit accusing casino mogul Steve Wynn of lobbying then-President Donald Trump on behalf of China.
Wynn, the former CEO of Wynn Resorts and finance chair of the Republican National Committee, no longer had an obligation to register as a foreign agent because his alleged lobbying campaign ended in 2017, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found.
The ruling upheld a lower court decision to dismiss the lawsuit, which sought to compel Wynn to retroactively register his lobbying activities with the U.S. government. Neither ruling addressed whether Wynn lobbied on behalf of China.
Wynn pressed the Trump administration in 2017 to cancel the visa of a Chinese businessperson who had sought asylum in the United States, according to the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
Wynn has denied serving as a foreign agent.
“This is a well-deserved end to a difficult ordeal,” Robert Luskin, an attorney for Wynn, said in a statement.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department could ask the full D.C. Circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
Two other people accused of being involved in the effort, former RNC fundraiser Elliott Broidy and rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel faced criminal charges for unregistered foreign lobbying.
Broidy was later pardoned by Trump.
The Justice Department has sought to ramp up its efforts to curb foreign influence in the U.S. amid increasing tensions with Russia and China. The lawsuit against Wynn was the first affirmative civil lawsuit brought under the U.S. foreign agent law in more than three decades.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Alistair Bell and Alexander Smith)
