President Donald Trump, center, flanked by acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, right, speaks during a meeting with military leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Republished April 03, 2019 - 8:32 PM
Original Publication Date April 03, 2019 - 3:11 PM
PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Latest on Mar-a-Lago (all times local):
6:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump is dismissing the arrest of a Chinese woman caught carrying a device containing computer malware at his private Florida club, saying it was "just a fluke situation."
Trump told reporters as he met with senior military leaders Wednesday evening that he's "not concerned at all" about the weekend incident at Mar-a-Lago or whether the Chinese might be trying to conduct espionage against him.
He contends that "we have very good control."
Trump is also commending the Secret Service, saying he "could not be happier" with their conduct and that the result was "good."
Federal officials are looking into whether the incursion was part of a larger effort to gain access to the president and do potential harm.
Senate Democrats are also asking the FBI to investigate potential security vulnerabilities at the club.
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6 p.m.
Federal officials are looking into whether a Chinese woman arrested at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club with a device containing computer malware was part of a larger effort to gain access to the president and do potential harm.
That's according to a U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said federal agents are combing through Yujing Zhang's electronics and treating the case as a "credible threat."
The 32-year-old was arrested over the weekend while the president was visiting the club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Court papers say Zhang was carrying two Chinese passports and had four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a thumb drive containing computer malware.
— Michael Balsamo in Washington
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2 p.m.
Senate Democrats are asking the FBI to investigate potential security vulnerabilities at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after the arrest of a woman carrying two Chinese passports and a device containing computer malware.
Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday. They said the incident, in their words, "raises very serious questions regarding security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago, which foreign intelligence services have reportedly targeted." The woman, Yujing Zhang, briefly gained access to the club after lying about why she was there.
The Democrats previously asked Wray to investigate a Trump campaign donor from Florida who is the founder and onetime owner of a spa that has been implicated in an alleged human-trafficking ring. They said the FBI hasn't responded.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019