‘Up to something nefarious.’ Judge orders lockup of Chinese woman arrested at Mar-a-Lago

A federal judge Monday ordered the detention of Yujing Zhang, the Chinese woman arrested trying to enter President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club. “It does appear to the court that Ms. Zhang was up to something nefarious,” Magistrate Judge William Matthewman said at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, adding that he considered Zhang, 33, a flight risk and believed she would return to China if released before trial. Matthewman said the weight of the evidence against Zhang — who pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of making false statements to federal officers and entering restricted property — is '“quite strong.”' Prosecutors had asked to keep her locked up.

Although no allegations of espionage have been made against Zhang, federal prosecutor Rolando Garcia said more charges are still possible. The FBI is treating her case as a national-security matter, sources have told the Miami Herald. Her arrest raised questions about security at Mar-a-Lago — and whether foreign adversaries could seek to penetrate the president’s Palm Beach club. Zhang was stopped at Mar-a-Lago March 30. She said she was there to attend an event and was carrying what the U.S. Secret Service described as a thumb-drive containing “malicious malware,” as well as several other electronic devices.

But during Monday’s hearing, prosecutors acknowledged the malware could have been a “false positive.” Garcia said the new findings were based on an FBI analysis of the thumb-drive that did not produce the same results as an earlier Secret Service analysis. During the earlier test, the thumb-drive was inserted into a computer and automatically started downloading files, something a Secret Service agent described as unusual in court testimony last week. The thumb-drive did not start downloading files during the subsequent FBI analysis, Garcia said. Tests are ongoing.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article229267494.html