Chinese National Arrested, Charged After Carrying ‘Malicious Software’ Into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
She faces two federal charges.
Secret Service arrested a Chinese national identified as Yujing Zhang after she managed to get past past initial security at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend with President Donald Trump in town.
Zhang had four cell phones, laptop, external hard drive, and a thumb drive. The complaint against her stated the thumb drive had “malicious software.”
From WPTV:
The woman, identified as Yujing Zhang, said she was there to “go to the pool,” when first approached by a Secret Service agent, an affidavit said.
Mar-a-Lago security could not find her on the access list so security contacted the manager of the Beach Club who said Zhang is the last name of a member of the private club, the report said.
Because of a perceived language barrier, it was believed she was a relative of a club member and allowed on the property, an investigator said.
A valet driving a golf cart picked up Zhang and asked her where she wanted to go but she didn’t know, the affidavit stated.
She ended up in a main reception area where she told a curious receptionist that she was there to attend a United Nations Chinese American Association that evening, a Secret Service agent said.
The receptionist knew that event didn’t exist and determined Zhang was not on an access list, according to the affidavit.
Escorted off the property and questioned by an agent, Zhang claimed her Chinese friend ‘Charles’ told her to travel from Shanghai, China to Palm Beach and to speak with a member of President Trump’s family about Chinese and American foreign economic relations, an agent wrote in the affidavit.
Zhang faces charges of making false statements to a federal officer and entering restricted grounds. Both are federal charges. She can receive up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The incident has brought up more security issues at Mar-a-Lago when Trump is in town since it remains open for members and their guests. Laurence Leamer, who wrote a book on the resort, told The Washington Post that security checks have “impressed” him, but remains skeptical since the club remains open for so many people.
Other members told WaPo that Zhang’s ease to navigate through Mar-a-Lago shocked them:
People who have recently hosted events at Mar-a-Lago said they were surprised by the apparent ease with which Zhang breached the club’s perimeter, saying that, for their own events, they had to submit guest lists days ahead of time.
Michael Barnett, head of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, said that when he submitted a guest list for the annual Lincoln Day Dinner, some people were rejected.
Holt Kramer, the Mar-a-Lago member, said the club closely scrutinizes members and their guests, checking identification and cars.
“There’s always security, and without a doubt you have to be checked, whether it’s the 100th time you’ve been there, or the first,” she said. “If you have guests, you call ahead, at least a couple of days, and you tell them who your guests are. And you tell your guests, ‘Make sure you bring your full ID with you.’ ”
Yujing Zhang Federal Charges by on Scribd
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Comments
Welcome to the future, and, to quote Prof. Reynolds, “The 21st century isn’t turning out as I had hoped.”
But to target potus world is nothing new. In 1950, militant Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate pres. Truman at the Blair House.
Nineteen sixty-three saw pres. Kennedy assassinated when Oliver Stone threw text books onto a grassy knoll in Dallas. Or something.
Pres. Reagan was gunned down in 1981 while leaving the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Thankfully, he recovered and even cracked jokes about it.
In 2011, the white house suffered a drive-by shooting when some young punk pointed his rifle out his car window and fire several rounds. Obama wasn’t home, but a window was damaged.
Security is tough for public figures, like a potus. Malicious software on a thumb drive could reak havoc on networks worldwide, but at least no one got shot.
Has anyone seen the Awan brothers? Hello?
“Has anyone seen the Awan brothers?…”
We might want to ask that of AG Barr.
Someone’s head is rolling – you can be sure of that.
If only Hillary had been elected then none of this skulduggery stuff would have to take place…simply because all the ching-a-lings would have had to do was to log on to her remote server for the info they needed 🙂
I would have thought the Chinese Government would have given her a better cover story. Is she a kook or a cracker jack agent?
Likely neither. The PRC runs the largest spy network in the world and it consists mostly of amateurs; students, businessmen, engineers, college professors, etc.
The Chinese government can put a lot of pressure on Chinese nationals as well as ethnic Chinese (if they still have family back in China, since those family members are essentially hostages).
To Dystopia: she’s a diversion. The actual agent likely got in.
Obama was let into Mar-a-Lago?
Site security comes in layers. Zhang got an escort from the gate to a reception desk where her bona fides were checked and rejected. She got no further and had zero opportunity for mischief. If it were Agatha from Shreveport with four cells, a laptop, an external, a thumb drive, and three cats in her bag we wouldn’t have heard a word about it. Sounds like site security worked just as it is supposed to.
Probably also an attempt to sabotage trade talks with the
Communist Chinese too?
One news story described the software as “malicious malware”. That must be the REALLY bad stuff.
It was probably Windows 10. Opinions vary on whether it’s intentionally malicious or just seems that way.
Win 10 did wipe out my old laptop, so I know how dangerous it can be! Far as I know, no Chinese spies were involved- but I do live in Diane Feinstein’s state, so who knows?
Another Bill Gates Foundation Plot ay?
Malware and Spyware share many similarities and it is easy to mistake Spyware for Malware. I suspect this is Spyware.
As long as it doesn’t crash Pornhub, we’ll all be okay.
someone check her connections to the democrat party. they believe they can get away with anything.