Free Republic

The Biden administration on Tuesday sued hotelier Stephen Wynn to force him to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The government claimed Mr. Wynn lobbied on behalf of officials of the People’s Republic of China during the Trump administration. The 13-page complaint filed in federal court in Washington said Mr. Wynn, former CEO of Wynn Resorts, acted on behalf of Sun Lijun, then-vice minister of public security for the PRC. Mr. Wynn allegedly had dinner and calls with former President Donald Trump in 2017 concerning canceling a visa of a businessperson who left China in...

U.S. multinationals function as unregistered lobbyists for foreign governments. If a foreign government wants to lobby the U.S. government, they and their lobbyists need to register with the Department of Justice, through the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. Week Thirty-Eight of the Trump White House In Review Watch Full Screen Alternatively, the foreign government could ask one of their American counterparts to do their bidding for them. The Chinese government opted for the latter approach, law enforcement sources tell the Wall Street Journal. Reportedly casino magnate Steve Wynn, who has business ties in the Chinese region of Macau, wrote...

U.S. spy agencies have determined that Russia and China are eavesdropping on President Trump's phone calls in order to gain information that they can use to influence American policy, according to a New York Times report. Although Trump's aides have repeatedly warned him that his three personal iPhones are not secure, the president refuses to give them up, the Times reported. He continues to use them to chat with friends and confidantes. China has reportedly been keeping track of the people who Trump speaks to the most, compiling them into a list of figures to target with pro-Chinese messaging. While...

"""FBI Raid Thomas Paine’s House, Point Guns At His Young Children; How an Award-Winning Reporter Became Thomas Paine""" I can say with certainty, my decision to journey back into journalism was made after the FBI pointed guns at the heads of my wife and children. I knew that first morning (the FBI actually raided my home twice and pointed guns at my family twice) when federal agents raided our home one definitive thing was going to unfold: These bastards — and their bosses — were going to pay for violating my family. My kids. My home. One way or the...

Wynn Resorts Ltd. WYNN 0.45% added three women to its board as the company continues to manage the fallout from sexual-misconduct allegations against former Chief Executive Steve Wynn. Disclosed on Wednesday, the move came a day after the casino operator’s largest shareholder, Mr. Wynn’s ex-wife Elaine Wynn, demanded the board overhaul its membership to comprise mostly new directors. The new independent directors are Betsy Atkins, Dee Dee Myers and Wendy Webb, bringing the board’s current composition to four women and seven men. The company said the board approved the new directors at a meeting in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Click here to go to Bloomberg.

Following a series of sexual misconduct allegations against casino mogul Steve Wynn this week, Politico reported Saturday that he has resigned from his position as finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. President Donald Trump personally selected Wynn for the senior position within the party.

Wynn Resorts stock dropped 6 percent in trading Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported allegations of sexual misconduct by billionaire CEO Steve Wynn over many years. Dozens of people who worked at Wynn's casinos say his behavior created a pattern of sexual misconduct, according to the report, with some describing employees being pressured into performing sex acts with Wynn. Wynn would regularly have manicures, makeup applications and massages performed at his office at the Wynn resort in Las Vegas, according to the WSJ. Former employees of Wynn say they would schedule fake appointments for female workers to avoid requests...

Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock is believed to have used the freight elevator at the Mandalay Bay hotel casino in the days leading up to last week's deadly attack. It wasn't clear what Paddock used the freight elevator for or how often he used it. CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports authorities were continuing to comb through Paddock's electronic devices — including a laptop and cellphone — at the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia. So far, none of the devices point to a motive for the shooting rampage. Meanwhile, billboards...

Despite the insufferable Chris Wallace this interview with Steve Wynn is interesting from the perspective of a guy who knows everything there is to know about the security behind operating massive hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. Additionally, as one might expect, it appears Mr. Wynn might be holding some insider information on the attack. The point about hotel guests using service elevators seemed more Freudian than accidental.

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn suggested Sunday that Stephen Paddock would have set off alarm bells at his properties had he tried launching his mass murder from one of them. Wynn, namesake of the glitzy Wynn Las Vegas on the strip, said his housekeeping staff is trained to do a visual inspection any time they enter a room, adding that a “Do Not Disturb” sign on a door for longer than 12 hours is investigated.

I hesitated to post this as a vanity but I thought it was important for those of us following this case. Steve Wynn, speaking to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday this morning, said that he had checked with all his staff (right down to masseurs and beauty shop operators) who had or might have had contact with Paddock or Marilou Danley and they reported that no one had ever seen Paddock or Marilou take a drink. Of course, this is unusual because alcohol is not only free but encouraged for gamblers at Paddock's level.

The Republican National Committee is poised to name former rival turned key ally to President Donald Trump as the next finance chair for the party. Billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn was selected to lead the GOP fundraising operation into the 2018 midterm election at a meeting of RNC officials over the weekend, sources with knowledge of the meeting told LifeZette. Wynn is a loyal Trump partisan and friend, booting designer Tom Ford’s products from his casinos after Ford made disrespectful comments about First Lady Melania Trump. The casino mogul served as finance vice chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee. The committee,...

Republican strategist Karl Rove arranged a meeting between fundraisers for GOP candidate Ben Carson and casino tycoon Steve Wynn, Bloomberg reports. Wynn is a sometimes-business competitor of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, whose campaign is viewing the meeting as an attempt by the GOP establishment to help Carson topple his chief rival in the primary race. "Karl Rove is at the center of the GOP establishment — fearful of what real leadership in Washington D.C. will accomplish," Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told Bloomberg in a statement. "Mr. Trump continues to expose the all-talk, no action politicians propped up their dark...

Republican strategist Karl Rove may be moving to help bankroll Ben Carson in the presidential race. Reports say Rove helped to set up a meeting between Carson's campaign and billionaire Steve Wynn, but additional details were not immediately clear. Wynn, who owns casinos and hotels across the country, has contributed a combined $30,000 to political action committees associated with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in this election cycle. Ben Carson presently ranks fourth in the Washington Examiner's power rankings. Wynn is munificent when it comes to campaign contributions, and he rarely discriminates between parties. Federal Election Commission filings indicate Wynn...

Update: Someone who says he was present at the interview emailed me, worried people would believe this theory. I've pasted his note after the post.If you're a connoisseur of conspiracy theories like I am, when a new one comes along it's interesting to ask not only what it claims, but how it claims it — that is, what are the intricate details that make it more likely to be believed and passed on? There was a really interesting example sitting at the top of r/AMA, the (much) smaller of Reddit's two "Ask Me Anything" subreddits: "Ted Cruz: The Next American...

“...They’re mollycoddled, they’re highly privileged,” Wynn said of stars like Clooney. “We are talking about successful artists like George, Barbra Streisand … they live in a relatively small world, the people around them are very solicitous and caring of them...”

... In a statement Clooney said: “There were nine people at that table so you can ask them. Steve likes to go on rants He called the president an a—–e. That is a fact. I said the president was my longtime friend and then he said, ‘Your friend is an a—–e’. At that point I told Steve that HE was an a—e and I wasn’t going to sit at his table while he was being such a jackass. And I walked out. There were obviously quite a few more adjectives and adverbs used by both of us. It had nothing...

Things got ugly a couple of weeks ago among the bubbled one-percent when fading movie star George Clooney and casino billionaire Steve Wynn engaged in a war of words over President Barack Obama.

ABC news story. Pretty bizarre story.