The Chinese woman arrested at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club with four cell phones on her last month entered the U.S. on a business visa that allowed her to make repeat trips to the country for a period of a decade.
Yujing Zhang, who had a bond hearing in Florida Monday, entered the U.S. on a B-1/B-2 visa, according to documents released by the government.
Her visa allowed her to travel to the U.S. for a period ranging from 2016 through 2026. Those visas are designed for people who need to be in the country on a temporary basis, such as to attend a business conference, or to seek medical treatment. They allow for repeat visits.
Yujing Zhang was arrested with two passports, four cell phones, and a USB drive that a Secret Service agent found had malware when inserting it into his computer
The visas do not require an employee sponsor, though it was not immediately known how Zhang, 32, was able to obtain her travel document.
Passports that bear stamps and were introduced into evidence for Monday's hearing reveal that Zhang was admitted to the U.S. on at least four occasions: in July 14, 2016, January 03, 2017, December 2, 2017, Sept. 14, 2018, and last month – on March 28th.
Two days after her most recent arrival, she was arrested after talking her way past security at the president's private club, where members pay a $200,000 initiation fee, and where Trump family members and top aides frequently spend weekends.
According to a Secret Service affidavit, a club security person who spoke to her concluded she may have been related to a club member with the same name, although Zhang is one of the most common names in China.
When she was at security, she also said she was there to go to the pool, although an agent noted in the affidavit that she had no bathing suit.
She was arrested with two passports on her, one of which had expired in 2017.
One of Zhang's passports expired in 2017
Her visa allowed Zhang to travel to the U.S. multiple times over a ten-year period
The defense submitted a flyer touting a Mar-a-Lago event in Chinese and featuring a picture of President Trump's sister, Elizabeth Trump-Grau
Zhang was charged with lying to investigators and entering a restricted area
Zhang said she was at Mar-a-Lago to attend an event at the invitation of a man she identified as 'Charles'
Zhang's passport included stamps for the times she entered the U.S.
Zhang flew from Shanghai to Newark before dropping in on Mar-a-Lago
She was arrested two days after entering the country
Zhang's attorney, Robert Adler, on Monday presented a different sequence of events.
He
