Chinese woman arrested in Mar-a-Lago charged with two counts of indictment

April 12, 2019, 19:34 GMT

By Tom Winter and Adiel Kaplan

Yujing Zhang, the Chinese citizen arrested at Mar-a-Lago in March while President Donald Trump was at his nearby golf club, was indicted on Friday.

The brief two-page indictment did not provide any new information on how Zhang would have entered the Trump complex in Florida two weeks ago. She was charged with two counts – illegal entry of buildings and restricted land and false statements to the police.

The FBI began investigating Zhang as a possible spy after his arrest. Federal authorities on Monday told a judge that she had repeatedly lied to secret service agents while wearing a malware that looked nothing like a government analyst. When they searched her hotel room, they discovered that she had over $ 8,000 in cash, as well as an electronic device that detects hidden cameras.

When Zhang entered the Palm Beach, Florida, club on March 30, she was arrested by secret service agents at a security checkpoint, according to court documents. She showed two Chinese passports with her name and a photo to the agents, who then took her to the security of Mar-a-Lago to see if she was a member of the club.

Mar-a-Lago allowed Zhang to enter, according to the documents, because part of his name matched that of a club member. Zhang gave a non-definitive answer to the question of whether this member was his father, according to the court documents, and had been admitted by the club "due to a potential problem of language barrier". She was taken by shuttle to a second checkpoint.

Zhang had said that she intended to go swimming at the club and at the second checkpoint, when she seemed not to know where to go. An event of the Chinese American Association later in the evening – a non-existent event. The receptionist alerted a secret service agent who arrested Zhang for questioning.

In the affidavit relating to the arrest, the officer stated that Zhang spoke very good English and that, during his interrogation, "became verbally aggressive with the agents".

She was found with four cell phones, a laptop, a hard drive and a USB key, but no swimsuit. After a preliminary forensic investigation, it was discovered that the USB key contained a "malicious program", according to the affidavit.

The arrest of Zhang raised questions about the safety of Mar-a-Lago during the president's visits. There is no evidence that Zhang ever approached the president, who was on his nearby golf course when she arrived.