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[webfact]

U.S. Democrats question Mar-a-Lago security after Chinese intruder

By Mark Hosenball and Susan Cornwell

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats raised questions on Wednesday about security at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after a Chinese woman carrying electronic devices bluffed her way through security checks last weekend.

 

Representative Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, said the Secret Service, which protects the president, will brief him and top committee Republican Jim Jordan on the incident.

 

"I am not going to allow the president to be in jeopardy or his family," Cummings told Reuters, adding that if the Secret Service needs "to change some things down there in Florida, we want to know."

 

In the Senate, three leading Democrats asked FBI Director Christopher Wray and the Director of National Intelligence to look into issues raised by the incident.

 

However, Trump brushed off concerns on Wednesday, calling the incident a "fluke," praising the Secret Service's handling of the intruder and telling reporters he was not concerned about spying at the resort.

 

"We will see what happened, where she is from, who she is, but the end result is they were able to get her," Trump said at a White House meeting with senior military leaders. "I'm not concerned at all."

 

Chinese citizen Yujing Zhang talked her way past checkpoints into the exclusive Trumpresort while the president was golfing nearby. After Zhang got inside the resort perimeter, Mar-a-Lago and Secret Service personnel grew suspicious.

 

When she became aggressive under questioning, she was detained by the Secret Service and later charged with making false statements and entering a restricted area.

 

After detaining her, investigators found in Zhang's possession four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive device and a thumb drive, the Secret Service said in a court filing. Initial examination of the thumb drive determined it contained "malicious malware," the Secret Service said.

 

Zhang's ability to get inside Mar-a-Lago without credentials or an appointment "raises very serious questions regarding security vulnerabilities," said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and senators Dianne Feinstein and Mark Warner, the top Democrats on the Judiciary and Intelligence committees.

 

"The apparent ease with which Ms. Zhang gained access to the facility during the president’s weekend visit raises concerns about the system for screening visitors, including the reliance on determinations made by Mar-a-Lago employees," the senators wrote, suggesting Zhang's success in getting inside the compound had "serious national security implications."

 

The Democratic senators asked the FBI and DNI to assess the risks posed by the handling of classified information at a facility like Mar-a-Lago, which is open to the public.

 

The lawmakers also asked the agencies and the Secret Service to suggest measures "needed to detect and deter adversary governments or their agents" from conducting spy operations at Trump properties.

 

The White House referred questions about the matter to the Secret Service, which did not respond to queries about the congressional inquiries.

(Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Alistair Bell and Chris Reese)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-04

[Thainesss]

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

"I am not going to allow the president to be in jeopardy or his family," Cummings told Reuters, adding that if the Secret Service needs "to change some things down there in Florida, we want to know."

 

This is like political concern trolling. Cummings doesn't care about Trump, he just wants in his business. 

 

And lets not forget about Dianne Fienstiens Chinese driver who was a spy, that no Democrat on this committee seemed to care about. 

[Langsuan Man]

No,  let's not forget that this is the first president in US history that is continuing to run a business while holding the highest office in the land

 

Trumps weekend jaunts to Florida could cover a down payment on his fantasy wall 

 

Just saying.......

 

 

[mtls2005]

29 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

This is like political concern trolling. Cummings doesn't care about Trump

Sez you.

 

trump was off property golfing when this woman was arrested. Melania and Baron were on the premises. Rep. Cummings is a genuine, classy, caring individual and I have no doubt his concern is with the safety and security of the president, any president, and their family. Plus it's his job to oversee government, including Secret Service and DHS.

 

This Chinese woman was caught, what about the other men and women who slipped through? (the thumb drive malware thing is a non-issue; thumb drives are easily infected...foreign intelligence services have almost certainly cracked trump's unsecured phone(s) already)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tug]

Ah don’t worry Donald will get her a security clearance not to worry lol

[Proboscis]

To think that the Chinese authorities would send such an amateur is beyond comprehension. No decent cover story, didn't stick to her cover story, allowed herself to be caught by the receptionist, apparently!

 

Very likely, this is some sort of freelance business operation trying to show gullible business people back how that she has an "in" with the president when they really do not.

[mikebike]

8 hours ago, Thainesss said:

 

This is like political concern trolling. Cummings doesn't care about Trump, he just wants in his business. 

 

And lets not forget about Dianne Fienstiens Chinese driver who was a spy, that no Democrat on this committee seemed to care about. 

Why didn't the committee persue  Feinstein and her driver when the GOP held the house? That seems like an issue which would be great politically AND be the right thing to do.

[heybruce]

Trump doubled the admission fee to Mar-a-Lago after the election to $200,000  https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/25/mar-a-lago-membership-fee-doubles-to-200000.html. announced it would be the "winter Whitehouse", then spends as much time as possible there mingling with those who can afford to spend $200,000 for face time with the President.  Of course he's doing this at great expense to the US taxpayers.

 

What other President has used the office to steer people to his over-priced businesses?  Of course Trump isn't going to stop his taxpayer financed jaunts to "meet and greet" those people who paid a fortune into Trump's pocket for the privilege.  In this and so many other things he doesn't give a damn about the security implications.

[heybruce]

21 hours ago, Thainesss said:

 

This is like political concern trolling. Cummings doesn't care about Trump, he just wants in his business. 

 

And lets not forget about Dianne Fienstiens Chinese driver who was a spy, that no Democrat on this committee seemed to care about. 

Did Feinstein knowingly hire a spy?  Trump is knowingly putting national security at risk.

[Tug]

Donald is a walking security risk he and his family regularly use un approved and or unsecured communication devices as well as private email for government buisness

[neeray]

22 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

No,  let's not forget that this is the first president in US history that is continuing to run a business while holding the highest office in the land

 

Trumps weekend jaunts to Florida could cover a down payment on his fantasy wall 

 

Just saying.......

 

 

The figure I heard today for those visits to HIS cottage is $3,000,000 (three million) a pop.

But heh, why not, doesn't he deserve to relieve himself on a gold plated throne?

[Redline]

Look, I don’t care about the security, and nobody else should either.  I don’t even think they should check people’s bags.  In reality, they should have open bar, and a shooting range just behind the place ???? if you give everyone guns, think how safe it would be!