The Department of Justice sued Stephen Wynn to compel him to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, alleging he lobbied for the People's Republic of China in 2017. The government claimed Wynn acted on behalf of a foreign principal by contacting the Trump administration to advocate for the removal of a Chinese businessperson's visa. However, the parties agreed that Wynn ceased all such activities in October 2017. The government filed suit in 2022, seeking a declaration that Wynn had a continuing duty to register and a permanent injunction forcing him to do so. The district court dismissed the complaint, ruling that because Wynn had not acted as a foreign agent for years, he had no present legal obligation to register.
Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Millett explained that the central question was whether Wynn had a continuing obligation to register nearly seven years after his alleged representation ended. The court relied on its binding precedent in United States v. McGoff, which held that the statutory obligation to file under Section 612(a) of FARA expires the day an individual stops acting as a foreign agent. The court rejected the government's argument that Section 618(f) allowed for an injunction to compel registration for past violations. The court analyzed the text of Section 618(f), noting that it authorizes suits against individuals who 'is engaged in or about to engage' in violations or who 'fails to comply' with the statute. The use of the present tense indicates that Congress intended to cover ongoing or imminent violations, not completed ones. The court further reasoned that the three types of injunctive relief available under the statute—enjoining acts, enjoining continued agency, or requiring compliance—all address present conduct. Since Wynn was not engaged in any prohibited acts and was not continuing to act as an agent, he was in compliance with the law. The court concluded that interpreting the statute to allow perpetual registration obligations would contradict the temporal limits established in McGoff.
The decision confirms that FARA registration is a prospective duty that ends when the agency relationship ends. It prevents the government from using civil injunctions to force registration for conduct that occurred years in the past. The case is dismissed, and no further action is required of Wynn. The ruling leaves open the question of how the statute applies to individuals who are currently acting as agents but have not yet registered, but it firmly establishes that the duty does not persist indefinitely after the conduct stops.
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