(Bloomberg) -- Former Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Wynn urged a judge to dismiss a US lawsuit seeking to compel him to register as a Chinese agent, saying he wasn’t lobbying when he passed on a message in 2017. 

The Foreign Agents Registration Act doesn’t apply to Wynn telling the Trump administration that China wanted the US to extradite Guo Wengui, a wealthy exile who criticized China’s government, Wynn’s lawyers argued in a court filing Monday. Wynn had no agreement with the Chinese official, wasn’t paid, and was transparent about the source of the request, according to the document. 

“He believed he acted in the interests of the United States by bringing this opportunity to President Trump, not as an agent of the Chinese official or government,” Wynn’s attorneys said in the Washington federal court filing. 

Forcing Wynn to register as a Chinese agent would compel him “to act as a witness against himself and to state an opinion he does not hold, in violation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and the First Amendment protection against compelled speech,” his lawyers wrote. 

The US sued Wynn in May, marking the first FARA lawsuit by the Justice Department in more than 30 years. The US has criminally charged about a dozen people with FARA violations in recent years. 

Told Trump

In its lawsuit, the US claims Wynn told then-President Donald Trump about China’s position on Guo, as well as White House and National Security Council officials. It claims Wynn acted to protect his casinos in Macau. 

Wynn’s lawyers attached a June 2018 letter to the Justice Department recounting the message he delivered on behalf of Sun Lijun, then-Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Public Security. Sun continued to call, according to the letter. 

“These calls became repetitive and annoying,” the letter said. “In October 2017, Wynn told Sun that he had made US government officials aware of Sun’s request, and that Sun should stop contacting Wynn because there was nothing more he could or would do.”

Elliott Broidy, a former Trump fundraiser who pleaded guilty to illegal lobbying, also sought Wynn’s help on behalf of Sun, according to the US lawsuit. Broidy, a Los Angeles money manager, admitted he conspired to violate FARA, but was pardoned by Trump. 

In 2020, Wynn gave an interview and sworn testimony during the criminal investigation of Broidy and others, stating he believed he acted in US interests and not as an agent of Sun or China, according to the filing. 

The case is Attorney General of the US v. Stephen A. Wynn, 22-cv-013712, US District Court, District of Columbia.

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