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Chinese woman arrested for illegally entering Mar-a-Lago

By Daniel Uria
A Chinese woman was arrested for attempting to gain access to the club with a thumb drive containing computer malware while President Donald Trump was visiting. File Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI
A Chinese woman was arrested for attempting to gain access to the club with a thumb drive containing computer malware while President Donald Trump was visiting. File Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI | License Photo

April 2 (UPI) -- Secret Service agents arrested a woman carrying two Chinese passports and a thumb drive containing computer malware after she tried to gain admission to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, court documents indicate.

Yujing Zhang, 32, was charged with two federal crimes including making false statements to a federal officer and entering restricted property, according to court records released Tuesday, The Miami Herald reported.

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Zhang originally told a U.S. Secret Service agent she was a member of the club and wanted to use the pool.

Zhang showed the passports for identification and agents said she wasn't on the membership list, but a club manager thought she was the daughter of a member, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Agents said Zhang didn't confirm if the member was her father, but assumed there may have been a language barrier and admitted her.

Once inside the club Zhang said she was there to attend a United Nations Chinese American Association but agents were summoned to the area after it was determined no such event was scheduled for that night.

Zhang then allegedly told agent Samuel Ivanovich she came early to familiarize herself with the club and take photos and showed him an invitation to the event that was written in Chinese and he was unable to read.

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Zhang was taken to the local Secret Service office for questioning where she said she was invited to the event by an acquaintance named "Charles" whom she knew through a Chinese social media app and denied telling the agents she was there to swim in the pool.

Ivanovich said Zhang didn't have a swimsuit, but was carrying four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a thumb drive containing computer malware.

Trump was visiting Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, but was golfing at one of his nearby clubs at the time of the arrest. First lady Melania Trump and other members of the Trump family were there at the time.

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