May 1, 2019

How We Unraveled the Mystery Around a Florida Spa Entrepreneur Who Offered Access to Trump

Follow the twists and turns of how Chinese execs found their way into Mar-a-Lago.

Cindy Yang poses with Donald Trump.Cindy Yang/Facebook

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This is the strange, swampy saga of President Donald Trump and a Florida spa entrepreneur.

Li “Cindy” Yang is the former owner of the Jupiter, Florida, massage parlor where New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was busted in February for allegedly soliciting prostitution. (She sold this location around 2012, and Kraft has denied the allegations.) Yang landed in the news after the Miami Herald published photos of Yang posing with President Trump and other Republican notables.

But there was more to the story. In 2017, Yang and her husband had formed a business, GY US Investments LLC, that offered clients opportunities to “interact with the president…and other political figures” at Mar-a-Lago.

Here’s what we know so far about this Mar-a-Lago mystery woman:

TIMELINE

March 9: A Florida Massage Parlor Owner Has Been Selling Chinese Execs Access to Trump at Mar-a-Lago

March 10: The Massage Parlor Owner Peddling Access to Trump Has Ties to Chinese Government-Linked Groups

March 12: White House: Trump “Doesn’t Know” the Massage Parlor Owner Peddling Access to Him

March 15: Head of Asian GOP Group Says He “Wouldn’t Rule Out” Illegal Foreign Donations to Trump

March 18: Dems Ask FBI to Investigate Massage Parlor Owner Who Was Selling Access to Trump

March 21: Chinese Influence Group Shuts Down After Report on Cindy Yang’s Ties

April 2: A New Chinese Mystery at Mar-a-Lago

April 3: Senate Democrats Urge FBI to Assess Security at Mar-a-Lago

April 8: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Scandal Just Got Bigger

April 12: Who Is the Mystery Man Tied to the Mar-a-Lago Intruder? The Puzzle Involves an Empty Lot in Colorado.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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