Democrats ask FBI to probe Florida woman
WASHINGTON >> The top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence and judiciary committees have asked the FBI to open investigations into the activities of a Chinese-American woman suspected of trying to sell access to President Donald Trump and his administration.
In a letter to the directors of national intelligence, the FBI and the Secret Service, the Democrats said that recent public reports about the woman, Cindy Yang, raised “serious counterintelligence concerns” about access by foreigners to Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, as well as criminal concerns about possible human trafficking and campaign finance violations.
They also asked for access to any information already gathered by the agencies about the extent of Yang’s contacts with Trump administration officials, security procedures around Mar-a-Lago and whether Yang or her clients had violated any lobbying laws.
“Although Ms. Yang’s activities may only be those of an unscrupulous actor allegedly selling access to politicians for profit, her activities also could permit adversary governments or their agents access to these same politicians to acquire potential material for blackmail or other even more nefarious purposes,” the Democrats wrote in the letter, dated March 15.
The letter to the intelligence officials was signed by Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Dianne Feinstein of California, the topranking Democrats on the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees; and Reps. Adam Schiff of California and Jerrold Nadler of New York, the chairmen of the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, added their collective weight to the request, calling the case “very concerning.”
Spokesmen for the federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies did not immediately return requests for comment. A lawyer for Yang, Evan W. Turk, did not return a call seeking comment.
Yang, 45, first attracted attention in recent weeks as the former owner of a Florida massage parlor where Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, was arrested in a prostitution and human trafficking sting last month.
Yang was not charged by authorities in that case, but her other businesses have since drawn scrutiny.
In one case, she started a company, GY US Investments, that promised rich Chinese clients access to American politicians, the White House and “V.I.P. activities at Mar-a-Lago.”
The Times reported Sunday that Yang, who has raised money for Republicans in the past, had also given or raised more than $50,000 for a Republican National Committee event last year to have her picture taken with Trump at an event at Mar-a-Lago. The photo was later posted on her company’s website.
The contributions that she bundled for the event included several unusual donations, including $5,400 checks from a 25-yearold woman who gives facials at a beauty school and a woman who said she worked as a receptionist at a massage parlor owned by Yang’s husband. The receptionist told The Times that Yang had helped her fill out the check, but said she did not want to say whether Yang had reimbursed her for the donation. It is illegal to reimburse someone for a political contribution.
Yang, a Chinese immigrant, has also participated in groups tied to the Chinese government and Communist Party. For example, in 2016 she joined the Florida Association for China Unification.