Federal authorities are probing potential Chinese intelligence operations targeting President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, according to a Miami Herald report. The investigation also involves spa owner Li “Cindy” Yang and Yujing Zhang, who was arrested earlier this week for allegedly attempting to enter the resort with a thumb drive infected with malware. The Miami Herald reports that a probe into Yang was already ongoing before Zhang’s Tuesday arrest, and an FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in South Florida is now trying to learn more Zhang. Investigators are also reportedly looking at the electronics Zhang allegedly attempted to bring into the resort—including the thumb drive, “a laptop, one external hard drive and four cell phones.”
Yang made news in recent weeks as the massage parlor owner who reportedly sold access to Mar-a-Lago events to foreigners with the help of a Chinese “event bundler” named Charles Lee. Zhang was reportedly headed to a Mar-a-Lago event Yang advertised on Chinese social media, and told Secret Service agents upon her arrest that she was a guest of a man named “Charles.” Zhang’s public defender reportedly declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Yang told the Herald that Yang did not “know the woman who was arrested at Mar-a-Lago this weekend.” Lee reportedly could not be reached for comment.
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