The Department of Justice cannot force casino owner and real-estate developer Stephen Wynn to register as a foreign agent for alleged past lobbying activities on behalf of China, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled.

“Wynn long ago ceased acting as a foreign agent” and therefore “has no present obligation to register” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Judge Patricia A. Millett wrote in the court’s opinion June 14 affirming a lower court judgment. “For that reason, the district court properly dismissed the government’s suit for failure to state a claim.”