Chinese woman arrested at Mar-a-Lago wants to fire attorneys

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Chinese woman charged with lying to illegally enter President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort told a stunned judge Tuesday that she wants to fire her attorneys and represent herself.

Yujing Zhang surprised U.S. District Judge Roy Altman during what was to have been a routine hearing over whether to delay her trial, which is scheduled to start next week. She faces up to five years in prison on charges of unlawful entry and making false statements. She has pleaded not guilty.

According to media reports, Zhang, 33, told Altman she wants to dismiss her public defenders and represent herself.

“I don’t need the attorneys, thank you,” Zhang told Altman through an interpreter. Zhang speaks some English, according to court documents, but her skill level is a matter of dispute between prosecutors and her attorneys.

Altman said he would not allow Zhang to dismiss her attorneys until she has been examined by a psychiatrist. If deemed competent, the judge said, she could represent herself.

Zhang, a Shanghai-based business consultant, is charged with lying to Secret Service agents to enter Mara-Lago on March 30. Agents say she had arrived in the U.S. days earlier and told them she was at Mar-aLago to attend a United Nations friendship event that she knew had been canceled.

Prosecutors say she was carrying four cellphones, a laptop and an external hard drive.

When agents searched her hotel room, they say they discovered more electronics gear — including a device to detect hidden cameras — $8,000 in cash and numerous credit and debit cards.

The president was at his nearby golf club when she arrived, and she was never near him.