The Chinese woman arrested after breaching security at Donald Trump’s private club and resort, Mar-a-Lago, had a device used to detect hidden cameras, other electronics and thousands of dollars in cash in her Florida hotel room, prosecutors said on Monday.
Yujing Zhang appeared in court at a bail hearing in West Palm Beach, where prosecutors revealed that items found in her room included: a signal detector – which is used to pick up the presence of hidden cameras – nine USB drives, five sim cards and a cellphone. There was also $8,000 in cash and several credit and debit cards, according to the Washington Post.
Zhang, 32, briefly gained entrance to Donald Trump’s Florida club and was found carrying a thumb drive containing malware, two Chinese passports and four cell phones. She has been charged with lying to the Secret Service. What she had planned remains unclear.
“She lies to everyone she encounters,” assistant US attorney Rolando Garcia said at Monday’s detention hearing, the Post reported. But he said there is “no allegation that she is involved in any espionage”.
The FBI is still investigating whether or not she is a spy. Garcia said the government is not making allegations of spying at this time but there are “a lot of questions that remain to be answered”. Zhang is charged with lying to a federal agent and illegal entering. Her bail hearing was adjourned until next week and she will be held until then.
Authorities said she entered the country on 28 March, flying into Newark from Shanghai. She went to Mar-a-Lago on 30 March.
Prosecutors said she had no ties to the US. “Her ties are all in China,” Garcia said.
The incident has sparked scrutiny of security procedures at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump often spends weekends.
