Mar-a-Lago Probe Zeroes In on Confiscated Thumb Drive, Sources Say
The woman, Yujing Zhang, was initially allowed onto the Palm Beach property by the Secret Service but was later detained.
(Bloomberg) -- The FBI is investigating whether a Chinese woman arrested at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida had links to Chinese intelligence or military services by examining a thumb drive that allegedly contained malware, people familiar with the investigation said.
The inquiry is part of a broader investigation into whether Chinese operatives are targeting Trump and Mar-a-Lago to get information about the administration’s policies regarding China, according to the people, who asked for anonymity because the inquiry is ongoing.
The woman, Yujing Zhang, was initially allowed onto the Palm Beach property by the Secret Service but was later detained. She was carrying four mobile phones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a thumb drive found to contain “malicious malware,” according to an affidavit the service filed in support of the charges against her.
The episode has led to demands by congressional Democrats for further scrutiny of possible security risks at Mar-a-Lago.
The devices Zhang was carrying led federal authorities to broaden the counterintelligence investigation to determine whether she was working for Chinese intelligence, the people said.
Forensic FBI investigators are trying to discover who designed the malware inside the thumb drive, what it was meant to do and whether there is any connection to China’s intelligence operations, one of the people said. The investigators want to know if the malware was meant to be used to gain access to -- or to destroy -- sensitive information on computer networks at Mar-a-Lago, one of the people said.
So far, investigations haven’t reached any conclusion and don’t have any direct evidence that Zhang was working for Chinese intelligence.
Federal prosecutors opened the counterintelligence investigation in December, one of the people said. It was triggered by information that led investigators to Li Yang, a Florida businesswoman. Yang, who goes by Cindy, is the former owner of a South Florida massage parlor that was caught up in a human trafficking scandal last month, according to a report in the Miami Herald.
Yang promoted and helped organize events at Mar-a-Lago that were marketed to Chinese business people. Social media photos published last month by the Herald showed Zhang taking a selfie next to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Investigators want to know if Yang had ties to Chinese intelligence, the person said, adding that the inquiry has since broadened to focus on other Chinese nationals.
Evan Turk, Yang’s lawyer, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In a March 22 interview with WPBF television in West Palm Beach, Turk said Yang is a businesswoman who sold travel packages to the U.S., and she doesn’t have any ties to the Chinese Communist party. He added that his client was a victim of a political witch hunt.
Zhang’s attorney, public defender Robert Adler, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. She said at a hearing that she’s a private equity investor from Shanghai, CNN reported.
The counterintelligence investigation began well before the Miami Herald and other media reported on Yang’s activities at Mar-a-Lago.
The FBI declined to comment.
The president spends many of his weekends at golf resort properties he owns in Florida and New Jersey, presenting unprecedented logistical and financial challenges for the government agency responsible for protecting him.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he’s not concerned about Zhang’s arrest and that he “could not be happier” with the Secret Service. “No, I’m not concerned at all,” he said. “No, I think it’s just a fluke situation.”
When Zhang arrived at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, she initially told a Secret Service agent that she was there to use the pool and presented two Chinese passports as proof of identity, according to the affidavit submitted by Secret Service Special Agent Samuel Ivanovich. After more questioning, she said she was there for a United Nations Chinese-American Association event.
There was no event with that name on the club’s schedule but Zhang was likely referring to a pair of events that had been slated for Saturday that were advertised on social media by Yang.
Yang was found to have taken pictures with Trump and others close to him and to have used them to advertise her ability to help Chinese clients get into events with Trump.
Trump said Wednesday that he doesn’t know Yang, asking reporters “who is that?” when they asked about his relationship with her. “I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Smith in Miami at mssmith@bloomberg.net;Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Justin Blum
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