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A coastguard patrol boat passes US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in November. Photo: AP

How US teen Mark Lindblom sneaked past Secret Service and got into Mar-a-Lago – while Donald Trump was there

  • University student walked to US president’s resort via an underground tunnel then joined line of club members awaiting security check
  • He was sentenced to a year of probation and a US$25 fine after prosecutors acknowledged he had no ill intent
Donald Trump

To get inside Mar-a-Lago, where US President Donald Trump was staying last Thanksgiving, 18-year-old Mark Lindblom walked along the beach until he reached an underground tunnel, leading straight to the luxury club.

The narrow corridor dipped beneath South Ocean Boulevard, a short cut so Mar-a-Lago Club members did not have to cross the street on their way to and from the beach.

There was a sign posted right outside the tunnel, warning, “UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE RESTRICTED AREA,” according to federal court documents. But Lindblom, who was not a member of the club, was undeterred.

“I wanted to see how far I could get,” the college freshman told a federal magistrate on Tuesday, the Palm Beach Post reported.

US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, return to the White House from Japan on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

As it turns out, he got pretty far: past Secret Service and all the way inside.

For sneaking onto the property, Lindblom pleaded guilty on Tuesday to entering or remaining in a restricted building where the president was visiting during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Lindblom, reportedly a business student at the University of Wisconsin, was sentenced to a year of probation and US$25 fine after prosecutors acknowledged he had no ill intent and intended only to take pictures on his cellphone.

“We have no reason to believe he had a political, criminal or terroristic purpose,” assistant US attorney John McMillan told the court, according to the Palm Beach Post. “It was a foolish decision he did on a lark.”

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The security breach is the latest incident at Trump’s private “Winter White House” in recent months, provoking concerns that inadequate security measures at the club could leave it vulnerable to more serious threats.

In Lindblom’s case, his lawyer, Marcos Beaton Jnr, told the court his client had an easy time getting through at least the first layer of Secret Service agents. The Washington native was spending the holiday with family at nearby beachfront property, though his family also were not members of Mar-a-Lago.

I’m sorry for wasting their time
Mark Lindblom

Upon entering the tunnel on November 23, Lindblom squeezed in line with the other club members awaiting a security check by the Secret Service. Once he reached the checkpoint, he passed a screening for weapons or other dangerous items, the Secret Service said in a statement.

Then, he simply “walked on through”, Beaton said – lingering on the grounds for 20 minutes before the Secret Service found him near the club pool.

The Secret Service said in its statement that Lindblom did not come into contact with the president or first lady “because of the layered security system in place at the club”. He was arrested after appearing out of place among other club members, the Secret Service said.

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“[H]is actions appeared inconsistent with that of a member or a guest,” the service said. “At that time, Secret Service personnel approached him and he was detained without further incident.”

Security concerns at Mar-a-Lago accelerated last month, when a Chinese national carrying a thumb drive containing malicious software was arrested after gaining access to Mar-a-Lago despite not being a member.

The woman, Zhang Yujing, approached the first security checkpoint and told officials she was there to go swimming, according to the criminal complaint. She raised some concern when asked if she was a relative of another “Zhang” on the member list – but the security official thought her hesitation was because of a language barrier and decided to let her through.

She was not stopped until a receptionist grew suspicious, asking why Zhang was there. Zhang claimed she was there for an event that did not exist, and the receptionist promptly called Secret Service.

A search of her belongings turned up no swimsuit, but rather four cellphones, a laptop, a hard drive and a thumb drive containing “malicious software”, plus other suspicious electronics in her hotel room.

The Secret Service said in a statement at the time that the agency “does not determine who is invited or welcome at Mar-a-Lago; this is the responsibility of the host entity”, referring to Mar-a-Lago management.

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Zhang’s arrest on charges of lying to Secret Service agents and entering a restricted building alarmed Democratic congressional leadership, who promptly asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to launch a review of Mar-a-Lago’s security.

As their April letter noted, the president sometimes handles classified information while staying at the club, and sometimes invites heads of state to meet there.

In February 2017, for example, Trump was blasted by Democrats after reviewing national security matters with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a dinner table on the Mar-a-Lago terrace in full view of casual diners.

“These potential vulnerabilities have serious national security implications,” Democratic leadership wrote to Wray in April.

Cindy Yang with US President Donald Trump in a photo Yang posted on her Facebook page. Photo: Cindy Yang via Facebook

It was the second letter in as many weeks that Democrats wrote to Wray requesting an investigation connected to Mar-a-Lago. In March, a frequent club guest and Republican donor, Cindy Yang, was accused of selling access to Trump to Chinese nationals who attended events where Trump was present.

The FBI has since opened a public corruption investigation into Yang, examining whether she illegally funnelled money from Chinese nationals into the president’s re-election campaign. Yang has denied any wrongdoing, and her lawyers say she has no personal connection to the president.

On Tuesday, US Magistrate Judge William Matthewman said it appeared “pretty clear” to him that Lindblom’s offence was rather a “youthful indiscretion more out of misplaced curiosity”.

A remorseful Lindblom said he understood the seriousness of his offence given the high-stakes nature of the Secret Service agents’ jobs. “I’m sorry for wasting their time,” he said.

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