How is Zhang Not a Spy, Again?
Yujing Zhang, the Chinese woman arrested on March 30, 2019 trying to enter President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, is charged with making false statements to federal agents and illegally entering a restricted area.
Authorities have formally charged Yujing Zhang — the Chinese woman arrested trying to enter Mar-a-Lago last month — with lying to a federal agent and entering restricted property without permission. They are the same charges as those listed against Zhang in the original criminal complaint.
The indictment, filed Friday, does not include espionage charges, despite authorities continuing to treat her case as a national-security matter, according to sources familiar with an ongoing counterintelligence investigation.
Zhang, 33, could face up to five years imprisonment for lying to a federal officer and one year for entering restricted grounds, and as much as $350,000 in fines, according to court documents.
Authorities could still choose to bring espionage charges against Zhang, a financial investor and consultant based in Shanghai. When she was arrested, she was carrying four cell phones, a computer, an external hard drive, and a thumb-drive infected with malware, according to the U.S. Secret Service. A signal detector — used for spotting hidden cameras — was found in her hotel room, along with other electronics and more than $8,000 in U.S. and Chinese currency, a federal prosecutor said during a prior court hearing.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article229168134.html