A Chinese woman – believed to be a spy – has managed to infiltrate President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, getting past the entire US security apparatus by simply asking to use the pool and by dodging any clarifying questions.
On Saturday the mystery woman managed to trick the Secret Service agents by saying she wanted to swim at the West Palm Beach country club’s pool.
Despite her name being Yujing Zhang, and not matching any on the guest list, a Secret Service agent just assumed she was related to a member with the same last name and let her through without confirming that fact, later they blamed a “language barrier” for the oversight.
The Chinese woman was caught in the main reception area – originally by a receptionist, then a Secret Service agent– when she claimed she was there for a United Nations Chinese American Association event that didn’t exist. According to the charging documents.
When the Secret Service agents searched the suspicious woman, they found two Chinese passports, four cell phones, a hard drive, a laptop, and a thumb drive which contained what they vaguely termed as “malicious malware,” leaving the list of items up to interpretation by US media.
President Trump was in West Palm Beach on Saturday, although he was at his golf course away from Mar-a-Lago when the incident happened. Trump left Mar-a-Lago for his golf club at 9:37 a.m., according to pool reporters traveling with the president at the time. The complaint says Zhang was first confronted on the property at 12:15 p.m. President Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago at 3:56 p.m.
Zhang proved to be very fluent in English once removed from the Mar-a-Lago property. The Chinese woman allegedly told the agents she had been directed on WeChat to travel from Shanghai to speak with a member of the Trump family about “Chinese and American foreign economic relations,” and stating she had arrived early to “familiarize herself with the property and take pictures.”
Zhang was ultimately arrested for making false statements about using the pool, according to the charging documents, since “no swimming apparel was found in Zhang’s possession or on her person.” Zhang faces up to six years in prison as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
The incident has renewed security concerns about the president’s “winter White House.”
If you enjoy the hard work we put in here at Milne News, a donation of any amount will help us continue the great work we do. Any donation is greatly appreciated:
Thank you for your support.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox for free every day by signing up below.
[email-subscribers namefield=”YES” desc=”” group=”Public”]
