Chinese woman arrested, charged for carrying malware into Trump’s resort

A Chinese woman, Yujing Zhang has been charged with making false statements to a federal officer and entering restricted property after she visited Mar-a-Lago on March 30th carrying a thumb drive apparently loaded with malware.

Zhang initially told the Secret Service that she wanted to use the pool, but later claimed she’d traveled to attend a non-existent UN “Friendship Event” (at the request of a mysterious “Charlie”) and wanted to speak to a member of the Trump family about China’s economic relationship with the US.

After being removed and detained by Secret Service agents, Zhang said she’d been invited to the event via WeChat by her friend “Charles” and was to “attempt to speak with a member of the President’s family about Chinese and American foreign economic relations.”

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No such event was being held at Mar-a-Lago at the time, although an event promoter named Charles Lee does the United Nations Chinese Friendship Association, the Washington Post reported, and also promotes Yang’s events.

“On March 30, 2019, physical screening was conducted by the Secret Service once Mar-a-Lago staff determined an individual was to be granted access to the property,” the Secret Service said in a statement.

“After the first physical screening, Mar-a-Lago staff transported the individual by a shuttle to the next screening checkpoint. Individuals are prohibited from disembarking the shuttle between screenings and the route is monitored by Secret Service personnel.”

Zhang ultimately was arrested and charged with two counts – one for making a false statement to a federal officer and the other for entering restricted property.

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