Bust malware gal at prez club
A Chinese woman carrying multiple passports and a thumb drive containing a computer virus was arrested at President Trump's private Florida club this past weekend after lying her way into the ritzy estate, according to court papers unsealed Monday.
Yujing Zhang was cuffed by Secret Service agents at Mara-Lago in Palm Beach on Saturday after managing to get past a security checkpoint by telling staff she was the relative of a club member and planned to swim in the pool, prosecutors said.
Once inside, Zhang switched up her story, telling a receptionist she was at Mar-a-Lago to attend a United Nations event on Chinese-American relations, according to a complaint. The receptionist knew there was no such event on the schedule and alerted Secret Service, prosecutors said.
The agents then arrested Zhang, questioned her and found she was carrying two Chinese passports, four cell phones, a laptop, an external hard drive and a thumb drive, prosecutors said. She had no swimsuit with her.
The agents scanned Zhang's electronic devices and found the thumb drive contained “malicious malware,” according to court papers. Prosecutors did not specify the type of malware.
Trump was at Mar-a-Lago last weekend but had left for his nearby golf course by the time Zhang sneaked into the club, according to prosecutors and a White House schedule.
Zhang was charged with making false statements to a federal agent and trespassing on private property. She's expected in court April 8.
During questioning, Zhang told Secret Service she had traveled from Shanghai and hoped to speak to a Trump family member about U.S.-Chinese economic relations.
While there was no UN events scheduled at Mar-aLago on Saturday, Zhang may have been lured into thinking there was one by Li Yang, the Florida woman who's accused of running a massage parlor prostitution ring and separately operating a consulting business hawking access to Trump and his family to wealthy Chinese clients.
As first flagged by the Miami Herald, Yang's since-defunct website advertised two events at Mar-a-Lago that day.
A White House spokesman referred to the Secret Service, which declined to comment.