Accused Mar-A-Lago Intruder Wants To Become Her Own Attorney

Yujing Zhang, the woman accused of breaking into President Trump’s resort at Mar-a-Lago, wants to represent herself in court. Zhang, a 33-year-old Chinese citizen, allegedly gained entry to Mar-a-Lago on March 30 by claiming to be a guest.

Roy Altman, a U.S. District judge in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, urged Zhang to reconsider her decision, but ultimately cannot stop her from representing herself. Zhang was found to be mentally competent to stand trial during interviews with attorneys.

Zhang has been ordered to wear an ankle bracelet on the grounds that she is a flight risk. Initial reports claimed that Zhang had computer malware with her when she snuck into Mar-a-Lago, but the White House has since backtracked on that claim. However, a number of electronic devices were found in Zhang’s hotel room in Florida after her arrest, as well as a large amount of cash.

“Zhang had claimed she brought the electronics to Mar-a-Lago because she feared they might be stolen if she left them in her hotel room. But Matthewman said that claim was undermined by the fact she left a lot of other electronics behind,” Bloomberg News reported. “A search of her room at the Colony Palm Beach hotel, about two miles north of Mar-a-Lago, had turned up another phone, five SIM cards, nine USB drives, a signal detector presumably for locating bugs or hidden cameras, and more than $7,600 in cash, mostly in hundred-dollar bills, prosecutors said.”