{"id":"court_ctb_644_31","court":"CTB","case_no":"22-50073","doc_number":644,"sub_number":31,"doc_type":"ORDER","filed_date":"2022-07-29","title":"This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by copyright","summary_zh":null,"summary_en":null,"body_en":"This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by copyright law. Fo non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.\n\nhttp\n\n\\* WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVEPOLITICS\n\n![](_page_0_Picture_4.jpeg)\n\n## Steve Wynn May Face Justice Department Action for Role in China's Push to Expel Businessman\n\nProsecutors are preparing to sue the casino mogul, citinq his 2017 efforts to get the U.S. to expel Guo Wengui, people familiar with the matter say\n\n![](_page_0_Picture_7.jpeg)\n\n## By Aruna Viswanatha | Follow\n\n## May 26, 2021 2:35 pm ET\n\nWASHINGTON-The Justice Department has told casino mogul Steve Wynn to register as a lobbyist in connection with his 2017 efforts to obtain a diplomatic favor long sought by Chinese authorities, and is preparing to go to court to force him to comply, according to people familiar with the matter.\n\nProsecutors have gathered evidence about Mr. Wynn's work in recent months in preparation for potential litigation if he doesn't file any such registration, the people said. If filed, the case would be a rare civil court battle over registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The law doesn't provide for civil penalties, but it gives the Justice Department the ability to seek a court order to force someone to comply. Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 2 of 6\n\nIn July, then-Attorney General William Barr warned that company executives who pushed policies at the behest of Chinese authorities could be required to register under the law, but the Justice [Department](http) hasn't filed any such case.\n\nThe dispute relates to Mr. Wynn's alleged efforts in the summer of 2017 to convince U.S. officials to send back to China a Chinese businessman in New York, Guo Wengui, whom Chinese authorities consider a fugitive. Mr. Guo has been accused of a range of [criminal](http) offenses, from bribery to sexual assault, all of which he has denied.\n\n![](_page_1_Picture_3.jpeg)\n\nMr. Wynn has long denied wrongdoing in the matter. \"Steve Wynn never served as an agent or lobbyist for China or anyone else, \" his attorney, Reid Weingarten, said. \"He was merely a loyal messenger of information he received to our government.\"\n\n\"Any effort to pursue him in any way for this conduct would be both a miscarriage of justice and an unwarranted extension of the FARA statute, \" Mr. Weingarten added. Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 3 of 6\n\nMr. Guo, who remains in the U.S., said in a statement: \"I am glad to hear the DOJ is investigating Steve Wynn and frankly believe they should criminally indict him for serving as a greedy spy of the Chinese Communist Party.\"\n\nMr. Wynn, a 79-year-old billionaire and friend and informal adviser to former President [Donald](http) Trump, is widely viewed as the architect of the modern Las Vegas Strip lined with luxury resorts. He resigned as [chairman](http) and chief executive of Wynn Resorts Ltd. in 2018 after The Wall Street Journal published an article detailing allegations of sexual [misconduct](http) by Mr. Wynn toward employees. He has said the idea that he ever assaulted any woman is preposterous.\n\nLast year, two of Mr. Wynn's associates admitted in plea agreements with the Justice Department that in June and July 2017, they had discussed Mr. Guo's removal with Mr. Wynn, and helped facilitate calls between Mr. Wynn and a Chinese government official about Beijing's desire for Mr. Guo's removal from the U.S.\n\nOne of the associates, Elliott Broidy, also admitted that he was with Mr. Wynn on Mr. Wynn's yacht in August 2017 when Mr. Wynn called Mr. Trump to ask about Mr. Guo's status in the U.S. Mr. Broidy pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the [foreign-lobbying](http) law in connection with that and other work, but was [pardoned](http) by Mr. Trump on Mr. Trump's final day in office.\n\n![](_page_3_Picture_1.jpeg)\n\nThe other associate, Nickie Lum Davis, who pleaded guilty last year to aiding and abetting FARA violations in connection with the work, said Mr. Broidy told her in a June 2017 text exchange that Mr. Wynn had \"reiterated to POTUS\" the necessity of denying Mr. Guo's visa application, according to a document filed in her case.\n\nIn one message sent to Mr. Wynn via his wife, Andrea Hissom, according to a document in Ms. Davis's case, Mr. Broidy said the Chinese government official had promised to help the U.S. with North Korea and other issues in exchange for Mr. Guo's removal. Ms. Hissom responded on her husband's behalf, according to the document: \"This is with the highest levels of the state department and the defense department. They are working on this.\"\n\nAt the time of their alleged efforts to remove Mr. Guo, Mr. Wynn was the national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and Mr. Broidy was the committee's national deputy finance chairman.\n\nThe Journal also reported in 2017 that Mr. Wynn, who then had interests in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, had delivered to Mr. Trump a letter from the Chinese [government](http) about Mr. Guo, which Mr. Wynn has denied.\n\nThe Justice Department has in recent years stepped up its efforts to police compliance with the FARA law, which requires people who talk to U.S. government officials or the media on behalf of foreign officials to register that work. Prosecutors used that law, designed to increase transparency into what foreign [governments](http) are advocating in Washington, in several high-profile instances related to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. They have also pushed for a wider range of entities, [including](http) Chinese and Russian state-run media firms, to register under the law. Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 5 of 6\n\nLast month, authorities [executed](http) a search warrant at the apartment and office of Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Trump's personal lawyer and former New York mayor, describing their investigation in the warrant as a probe into a possible violation of the FARA law. Mr. Giuliani has denied ever serving as a lobbyist or agent of a foreign government, and a lawyer for him described the search warrant as \"legal thuggery.\"\n\nIn 2019, in what the Justice Department described as the \"first FARA civil enforcement action since 1991, \" it convinced a federal judge to force a company that provided for the broadcast of the Russian state-backed Sputnik radio programs in the U.S., [to register](http) under the law. The Justice Department unit that enforces FARA has added civil litigators in recent months in preparation for more such cases, officials have said.\n\nAny action against Mr. Wynn would represent a shot across the bow against senior company executives who interact with foreign government officials. \"In a high profile case like this…the department is more likely to take aggressive enforcement action in order to deter others who might manifest similar disregard for FARA compliance, \" said David Laufman, a\n\nformer official in the Justice Department's national-security division who is now at the law firm Wiggin and Dana. Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 6 of 6\n\nIf brought, the action would be the latest to stem from a [multibillion-dollar](http) fraud at a Malaysian development fund called 1Malaysia Development Bhd. As a Justice Department investigation into the fraud expanded by 2017, the alleged mastermind of the fraud, Jho Low, hired well-connected fundraisers and others to try to thwart the investigation and pursue other issues of interest to him in Washington, including pushing for Mr. Guo's removal, the consultants have said. Mr. Low was [indicted](http) in the U.S. in 2018 for his alleged role in the theft of funds from 1MDB but has avoided arrest and is believed to be living under Chinese protection. He has denied wrongdoing.\n\n## Write to Aruna Viswanatha at [Aruna.Viswanatha@wsj.com](mailto:Aruna.Viswanatha@wsj.com)\n\n*Appeared in the May 27, 2021, print edition as 'DOJ Labels Wynn as Beijing Lobbyist'.*","body_zh":"本副本仅供您个人非商业用途使用。本材料的分发和使用受版权法管辖。如需非个人用途使用或订购多份副本，请致电 1-800-843-0008 联系 Dow Jones Reprints（道琼斯重印部）或访问 www.djreprints.com。\n\nhttp\n\n* WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVEPOLITICS\n史蒂夫·韦恩可能因参与中国驱逐商人的行动而面临司法部诉讼\n\n知情人士称，检察官正准备起诉这位赌场大亨，理由是他曾在 2017 年试图促成美国驱逐 Guo Wengui（郭文贵）\n作者：Aruna Viswanatha（阿鲁娜·维斯瓦纳塔） 关注\n2021年5月26日 下午 2:35（美东时间）\n\n华盛顿——据知情人士透露，DOJ（美国司法部）已要求赌场大亨 Steve Wynn（史蒂夫·韦恩）就其 2017 年试图获取中国当局长期寻求的一项外交恩惠的相关作为登记为游说人员，并正准备诉诸法庭以强制其遵守规定。\n\n知情人士表示，近几个月来，检察官已收集了有关韦恩先生工作的证据，以便在他未提交任何此类登记的情况下为潜在诉讼做好准备。如果提起诉讼，该案将成为依据 Foreign Agents Registration Act（《外国代理人登记法》，简称 FARA）提起登记诉讼的罕见民事法庭诉讼。该法律未规定民事罚款，但赋予司法部寻求法院命令以强制某人遵守规定的权力。Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 2 of 6\n\n去年 7 月，时任 Attorney General（总检察长）William Barr（威廉·巴尔）曾警告称，按照中国当局吩咐推动政策的公司高管可能会被要求依法登记，但司法部尚未提起任何此类诉讼。\n\n该争议与韦恩先生涉嫌在 2017 年夏天所作出的努力有关，当时他试图说服美国官员将身在纽约、被中国当局视为逃犯的中国商人郭文贵遣返回中国。郭先生被指控犯有一系列刑事罪行，从受贿到性侵犯不等，但他对所有指控均予以否认。\n\n韦恩先生长期以来一直否认在此事上有任何不当行为。他的律师 Reid Weingarten（里德·温加滕）表示：“史蒂夫·韦恩从未担任过中国或任何其他人的代理人或游说人员。他只是将收到的信息忠实传递给我们政府的信使。”\n\n温加滕先生补充说：“因该行为而以任何方式对他进行追究的任何企图，既属于司法不公，也是对 FARA 法规毫无根据的扩张解释。”Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 3 of 6\n\n仍留在美国的郭先生在一份声明中表示：“我很高兴听到司法部正在调查史蒂夫·韦恩，坦率地说，我认为他们应该因他充当中国共产党的贪婪间谍而对他提起刑事起诉。”\n\n现年 79 岁的亿万富翁、前总统 Donald Trump（唐纳德·特朗普）的朋友兼非正式顾问韦恩先生，被广泛视为两旁林立着豪华度假村的现代拉斯维加斯大道的缔造者。在 The Wall Street Journal（《华尔街日报》）发表了一篇详细列举韦恩先生涉嫌对员工实施性不当行为的报道后，他于 2018 年辞去了 Wynn Resorts Ltd.（永利度假村有限公司）董事长兼首席执行官的职务。他曾表示，说他曾侵犯过任何女性的说法是荒谬的。\n\n去年，韦恩先生的两名同伙在与司法部达成的认罪答辩协议中承认，他们在 2017 年 6 月和 7 月曾与韦恩先生讨论过驱逐郭先生的事宜，并协助促成了韦恩先生与一名中国政府官员之间的通话，通话涉及北京方面希望将郭先生从美国驱逐出境。\n\n其中一名同伙 Elliott Broidy（埃利奥特·布罗伊迪）还承认，2017 年 8 月韦恩先生在其游艇上致电特朗普先生询问郭先生在美国的身份状态时，他就在韦恩先生身边。布罗伊迪先生承认串谋违反与该工作及其他工作相关的外国游说法律，但在特朗普先生任期的最后一天获得了特朗普先生的赦免。\n\n另一名同伙 Nickie Lum Davis（妮基·林姆·戴维斯）去年承认在此项工作中帮助和教唆违反 FARA，根据其案件中提交的一份文件，戴维斯女士称布罗伊迪先生在 2017 年 6 月的一次短信交流中告诉她，韦恩先生已“向美国总统重申”拒绝郭先生签证申请的必要性。\n\n根据戴维斯女士案件中的一份文件，在通过韦恩先生的妻子 Andrea Hissom（安德里亚·希索姆）发送给韦恩先生的一条信息中，布罗伊迪先生表示，该中国政府官员承诺以协助解决朝核及其他问题作为驱逐郭先生的交换条件。该文件显示，希索姆女士代表其丈夫回复称：“此事已提交至国务院和国防部最高层。他们正在处理此事。”\n\n在涉嫌试图驱逐郭先生期间，韦恩先生担任 Republican National Committee（共和党全国委员会）的国家财务主席，布罗伊迪先生则担任该委员会的国家副财务主席。\n\n《华尔街日报》还在 2017 年报道称，当时在澳门这一中国博彩重镇拥有商业利益的韦恩先生，曾向特朗普先生递交过一封来自中国政府关于郭先生的信函，韦恩先生对此予以否认。\n\n近年来，司法部加大了监督 FARA 法律遵守情况的力度。该法律要求代表外国官员向美国政府官员或媒体发声的人员必须对该工作进行登记。旨在提高外国政府在华盛顿所倡导诉求之透明度的该法律，已被检察官在与特别检察官 Robert Mueller（罗伯特·穆勒）调查相关的多起引人注目的案件中援引。他们还敦促包括中俄官方媒体机构在内的更广泛实体依据该法进行登记。Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 5 of 6\n\n上个月，执法部门对特朗普先生的私人律师、前纽约市长 Rudy Giuliani（鲁迪·朱利安尼）的公寓和办公室执行了搜查令，并在搜查令中将他们的调查定性为对可能违反 FARA 法律行为的调查。朱利安尼先生否认曾担任过外国政府的游说人员或代理人，他的一名律师称该搜查令是“合法的暴行”。\n\n2019 年，在司法部称之为“自 1991 年以来的首例 FARA 民事执法行动”中，司法部说服了一名联邦法官，强制要求一家在美国提供俄罗斯国家支持的 Sputnik（卫星通讯社）广播节目播放服务的公司依法登记。官员们表示，执行 FARA 的司法部部门近几个月来增加了民事诉讼律师，以便为更多此类案件做好准备。\n\n对韦恩先生采取的任何行动都将对与外国政府官员互动的公司高管形成迎头警示。David Laufman（大卫·劳夫曼）表示：“在这样一起备受瞩目的案件中……司法部更有可能采取强有力的执法行动，以威慑其他可能表现出同样无视 FARA 合规要求的人员。”\n\n劳夫曼先生曾是司法部国家安全司的官员，现就职于 Wiggin and Dana（威金与达纳律师事务所）。Case 22-50073 Doc 644-31 Filed 07/29/22 Entered 07/29/22 13:36:15 Page 6 of 6\n\n如果提起诉讼，该诉讼将是源自名为 1Malaysia Development Bhd.（一马发展有限公司，简称 1MDB）的马来西亚发展基金数十亿美元诈骗案的最新行动。顾问们表示，随着司法部对该诈骗案的调查在 2017 年逐步扩大，涉嫌为主谋的 Jho Low（刘特佐）雇佣了人脉广泛的筹款人及其他人员，试图阻挠调查并推进其在华盛顿关切的其他议题，包括推动驱逐郭先生。刘先生于 2018 年在美国因涉嫌参与盗窃 1MDB 资金而被起诉，但他一直潜逃避捕，据信生活在中国的庇护之下。他否认有任何不当行为。\n联系 Aruna Viswanatha：[Aruna.Viswanatha@wsj.com]\n\n刊登于 2021 年 5 月 27 日印刷版，标题为《DOJ Labels Wynn as Beijing Lobbyist》（司法部将韦恩定性为北京游说人员）。","key_entities":["Guo","Chinese Communist Party"],"ecf_references":[],"word_count":1309,"status":"published","published_at":"2022-07-29 00:00:00","created_at":"2022-07-29","updated_at":"2026-08-23 12:48:28"}