Zhang Yujing acted ‘weird’ at Mar-a-Lago, prompting receptionist to call Secret Service
- Ariela Grumaz realised Zhang had never been to US president’s club before when she started shooting phone video of resort’s ornate lobby
- Zhang disappeared into women’s bathroom when agent spoke to her, where Grumaz then found her texting on phone
Chinese businesswoman Zhang Yujing caught the eye of the receptionist at US President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club as soon as she walked through the palatial front door around noon on March 30, according to testimony presented in federal court Tuesday.
The Mar-a-Lago receptionist, Ariela Grumaz, had never seen Zhang before and noticed the stranger was wearing a long grey dress – oddly formal for lunchtime – and shooting video with her phone in the club’s ornate lobby. Then Zhang breezed by the receptionist into a lounge area.
“As soon as she entered the lobby, you could see she was fascinated by the decorations and that’s when I realised she had never been here before,” Grumaz testified at Zhang’s trespassing trial in Fort Lauderdale federal court, noting that no video or photos are allowed inside the Palm Beach resort.
And so began the encounter that would lead to Zhang’s arrest by federal agents on felony charges of trespassing at Mar-a-Lago and lying to a federal agent, instigated by not the government security that surrounds Trump and his family but an employee of the Trump Organisation.
If convicted by the 12-member jury, Zhang, 33, who has chosen to represent herself in court against a judge’s strong advice, faces up to six years in prison.
Zhang, who says she is a successful businesswoman from Shanghai, is also under scrutiny from a federal counter-intelligence investigation, although she has not been charged with spying.