https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article228963409.html?__twitter_impression=true

She lies to everyone’: Feds say Mar-a-Lago intruder had hidden-camera detector in hotel

By Jay Weaver,

Sarah Blaskey,

Caitlin Ostroff and

Nicholas Nehamas April 08, 2019 02:33 PM

She lies to everyone’: Feds say Mar-a-Lago intruder had hidden-camera detector in hotel

By Jay Weaver,

Sarah Blaskey,

Caitlin Ostroff and

Nicholas Nehamas April 08, 2019 02:33 PM

A federal prosecutor argued in court Monday that Yujing Zhang, the Chinese woman arrested trying to enter President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach last month, “lies to everyone she encounters” and said a search of her hotel room uncovered more than $8,000 in cash, as well as a “signal-detector” device used to reveal hidden cameras.

Also uncovered in the search: $7,500 in U.S. hundred-dollar bills and $663 in Chinese currency, in addition to nine USB drives, five SIM cards and other electronics, according to federal prosecutor Rolando Garcia.

Prosecutors are treating the case as a national-security matter and an FBI counterintelligence squad is investigating, sources familiar with the inquiry told the Miami Herald.

Zhang gave conflicting accounts of why she came to Mar-a-Lago on March 30, at one point saying she had been invited to attend a social event, according to an affidavit filed by a U.S. Secret Service agent. But she was found to be carrying several electronic devices, including a thumb-drive containing “malicious malware,” the Secret Service said. That raised suspicions among federal investigators already probing possible Chinese intelligence operations in South Florida that she could be engaged in espionage.

“The preliminary analysis of her phones shows she was not there for an event at Mar-a-Lago,” Garcia said during a detention hearing at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach.

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Who has gained access to President Trump and Mar-a-Lago through Cindy Yang?

Monday’s hearing was held to determine if Zhang should be released on bond. Federal magistrate judge William Matthewman said he will make his decision on whether to order Zhang’s continued detention or grant her a bond next Monday, when she will be arraigned. Matthewman extended the detention hearing to give Zhang’s defense team more to time to contact people in China about helping with arrangements if she is released on bond.

Zhang faces charges of lying to a federal officer and entering restricted property. She was carrying four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hardrive and the thumb-drive when she was arrested at Mar-a-Lago. The incident has raised new concerns about security at Mar-a-Lago — and whether foreign governments can use the president’s private businesses to gain information. On Monday, CNN reported that Trump was removing the head of the Secret Service, Randolph “Tex” Alles, although a source told the news channel the ouster was not related to the Mar-a-Lago arrest. The Secret Service, which seldom comments on security matters, had issued a statement last week that seemed to lay blame for Zhang’s entry on Mar-a-Lago staff.

On Monday, wearing a short-sleeved, navy-blue detainee uniform, Zhang glanced repeatedly at the crowd of news media that had gathered behind her for the hearing, chewing her bottom lip. Her hands were clenched in fists so tight they began to turn red. She appeared to speak in English with one of the attorneys representing her, although a court-appointed Mandarin interpreter was also present. When the hearing started, she began taking notes on a yellow legal pad.

Zhang’s federal public defender, Robert Adler, pushed back on the idea that she was a spy.

“She did not have the type of devices that can be associated with espionage activities,” Adler said.

Garcia, the prosecutor, replied that “there is no allegation [in the criminal complaint] she was involved in espionage … all of of this is irrelevant.”

“That’s good to know,” Adler said.

Later, Garcia said he could not rule out more serious charges.

“There are a lot of questions that remain to be answered,” he told Matthewman.

>>6099675

Investigators are still trying to determine the nature of the malware Zhang allegedly brought into the club, the sources told the Herald. It is not clear how much of a threat the malware posed and whether it was intended to gather information at the president’s club or possibly to destroy an existing network or program.

Secret Service agent Samuel Ivanovich, who interviewed Zhang on the day of her arrest, testified at the hearing. He stated that when another agent put Zhang’s thumb-drive into his computer, it immediately began to install files, a “very out-of-the-ordinary” event that he had never seen happen before during this kind of analysis. The agent had to immediately stop the analysis to halt any further corruption of his computer, Ivanovich said. The analysis is ongoing but still inconclusive, he testified.

Zhang entered the country through Newark Liberty International Airport on a tourist visa on March 28, according to prosecutors. The U.S. State Department has since revoked her visa and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a detainer on her, Garcia said. During a hearing last week, Zhang told the judge that she typically brings cash with her on trips to the United States but did not indicate that she had several thousand dollars. She had previously visited the United States on at least two occasions , in July 2016 and January 2017.

A social-media profile appearing to belong to Zhang shows she is a graduate of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. She held a securities license in China from December 2008 to January 2013, according to a Securities Association of China database.

Signal detectors are portable devices that can detect radio waves, magnetic fields and hidden-camera equipment.

Breach at Mar-a-Lago

>>6099679

Zhang was arrested March 30 after trying to enter Mar-a-Lago shortly after noon.

She got past an initial Secret Service checkpoint by saying she wished to use the pool, according to a criminal complaint. Mar-a-Lago staff thought she was related to a club member. But a receptionist grew suspicious after Zhang said she had come to attend a “United Nations Friendship Event” between China and the United States. No event by that name was scheduled for that day. She also told the Secret Service that she had been invited by a Chinese friend named “Charles.”

Zhang may have miscommunicated the name of the event she wished to attend: The Herald has reported that a Chinese national named Charles Lee runs a business promoting events at Mar-a-Lago under the auspices of a group called the United Nations Chinese Friendship Association, which has no actual connection to the U.N. Lee worked to advertise the events on Chinese-language social media with Li “Cindy” Yang, the South Florida massage-parlor owner who ran a separate business that promised Chinese clients photos and meetings with Trump.

Yang had promoted events scheduled for Mar-a-Lago on the day Zhang showed up, including a “Safari Night” charity gala. But the functions had been canceled after the Herald first reported on Yang’s access-selling business last month, including a selfie she took with Trump.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence Zhang had any communication with a man named Charles. Nor was there any indication that the “United Nations” event existed, Garcia said, adding that the real event that night had been canceled. The group promoting it had not advertised it as any kind of United Nations event, he said. In fact, the organization had taken the site down weeks before, he said. (The website for Yang’s company, GY U.S. Investments, had been taken down after reporting from the Herald and other news organizations in March.)

Adler, Zhang’s attorney, confirmed that “Charles” was Charles Lee. He said Zhang had paid $20,000 to a Beijing-based company on Feb. 19. The wire transfer appears to have been payment for a travel package that would have included entrance into Safari Night. In addition, the defense entered a Herald article into evidence, pointing to the newspaper’s reporting that Lee piggybacked off of Mar-a-Lago events promoted by Yang and bundled them into larger packages he sold to Chinese buyers hoping to meet Trump or members of his family. Adler said he believed that is what Zhang paid for.

Adler also seemed to try to poke holes in the government’s case that Zhang had lied to the Secret Service and Mar-a-Lago security to gain access to the club. He asked Ivanovich, the Secret Service agent, if she had given a “definitive answer” that she was related to the club member.

“No, she did not,” Ivanovich said on the witness stand.

The agent also said he conducted a four-and-a-half hour interview with Zhang at the Secret Service office in West Palm Beach. There was only video but no audio recording because Ivanovich said he did not realize the audio was not working.

Lu_Trump.jpg

President Donald Trump poses with two Chinese executives at a Dec. 2, 2017, fundraiser. He is pictured with tech startup CEO Lucas Lu (left), and cryptocurrency giant Ryan Xu (right).

Congressional Democrats have called for a counterintelligence investigation into Yang, whose activities have generated national scrutiny.

>>6099681

As it turned out, the FBI has been investigating possible Chinese espionage operations in South Florida since late last year, sources with knowledge of the inquiry exclusively told the Herald. Zhang’s arrest has sent the counterintelligence probe into overdrive. The FBI Counterintelligence Division in South Florida is also now examining the activities of Yang. The investigation had originally focused on other Chinese nationals doing business in South Florida or traveling to the region. (In February, a Chinese student was sentenced to one year in prison after he was caught taking photos and videos at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Key West.)

A spokeswoman for Yang said she has done nothing wrong, has not been contacted by federal authorities and did not know Zhang, the alleged Mar-a-Lago intruder.

Trump was in South Florida during the security breach but was golfing away from Mar-a-Lago. Last week he called the incident a “fluke.” But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CBS News it could be an example of “the threat that China poses, the efforts they’re making inside the United States, not only against government officials but more broadly.”

Prior to her arrest, Zhang stayed at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, about two miles up the road from the president’s club. The pastel-colored boutique hotel hosts high-end clientele, including Meryl Streep, who stayed the weekend after Zhang’s arrest, according to guests.

In an initial court appearance last week, she told a judge that she owned a $1.3 million home in China and drove a BMW, saying she worked as an investor and consultant in Shanghai. Zhang’s arraignment — where the charges against her will be presented — is scheduled for Monday, April 15.

Trump replaces Secret Service director

By Zack Budryk - 04/08/19 01:47 PM EDT

https://thehill.com/homenews/437866-trump-fires-secret-service-director-report

President Trump is removing U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles from his position.

“United States Secret Service director Randolph 'Tex' Alles has done a great job at the agency over the last two years, and the President is thankful for his over 40 years of service to the country," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Monday. "Mr. Alles will be leaving shortly and President Trump has selected James M. Murray, a career member of the [United States Secret Service], to take over as director beginning in May.”

CNN first reported that Trump was firing Alles, citing multiple administration officials.

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Alles reports directly to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who resigned Sunday effective April 10, reportedly due to her resistance against White House directives to resume separating migrant children from their families.

The Secret Service recently came under scrutiny for its handling of an incident in which a Chinese national was allowed to enter President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. The woman, who alternately claimed to be there to swim and attend an event for Chinese-American business leaders, was eventually determined to be carrying two Chinese passports and a device containing malware.

The Secret Service and White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

An administration official told CNN that Alles’s firing was part of a “purge” at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following Nielsen’s resignation, saying Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Frances Cissna and the Office of the General Counsel’s John Mitnick would also likely depart soon.

Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, has become Trump’s point man on immigration and border policy in recent weeks and is determined to replace DHS leadership with likeminded officials, according to the official.

The Associated Press, however, reported that Alles's departure is "unrelated" to other exits from DHS.

Ilhan Omar

‏Verified account @IlhanMN

12m12 minutes ago

Stephen Miller is a white nationalist. The fact that he still has influence on policy and political appointments is an outrage.

I hope this Bitch is removed from office ASAP! So tired of her BS!