The woman who once owned the spa where Patriots owner Robert Kraft allegedly solicited prostitutes denies that President Trump was ever a client.
Li ‘Cindy’ Yang is also denying on Wednesday that she used her connections to Trump and the Republican Party to sell access to the president’s inner circle to wealthy Chinese business people.
‘He’s saying “make America great again”,’ she told ABC News on Wednesday.
In her interview with ABC News, she said that her family sold the infamous Florida spa six year before Kraft, a friend of Trump, was arrested.
She also said her ethnicity as well as her support for Trump and the Republican Party is why Democrats in Congress are now seeking information about her alleged ties to wealthy Chinese nationals.
‘I’m Chinese. I’m Republican,’ Yang told NBC News. ‘That’s the reason the Democrats want to check me.’
Yang made national news after Kraft was arrested and charged with soliciting prostitutes at the Orchids of Asia spa in Jupiter, Florida.
Li ‘Cindy’ Yang on Wednesday denied that she used her connections to Trump and the Republican Party to sell access to the president’s inner circle to wealthy Chinese business people
Squad: Yang, 45, is a frequent guest at Mar-a-Lago and has also visited the White House (as seen in the undated file photo above) and Trump Tower multiple times since President Trump took office
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a friend of President Trump, was charged with soliciting a prostitute after he allegedly patronized a spa founded by Yang
Yang’s family sold the Orchids of Asia spa in Jupiter, Florida (above) in 2013, she said
The Patriots owner has pleaded not guilty.
Earlier this month it was reported that Yang steered wealthy Chinese investors to a fundraiser for President Trump in New York City in late 2017.
Yang, whose family once ran a chain of South Florida day spas that authorities allege was used to host a prostitution ring, was also running a consulting business that offered businessman from China access to the president and his family.
Yang, 45, was in attendance at a fundraiser held at Cipriani restaurant in New York City on December 2, 2017, a person who was there told the Miami Herald.
She was also photographed at the event. The picture was circulated widely in Chinese-language media at the time.
Yang identified herself to other guests at the fundraiser as an official with the National Committee of Asian American Republicans.
The organization is a political action committee based in Washington, D.C.
Eleven days before the event, Yang contributed $5,400 to Trump’s campaign. She also gave $23,500 to the Trump Victory political action committee, according to the Herald.
Yang, 45, (seen in foreground with President Trump and a guest at Mar-a-Lago in February) brought a group of wealthy Chinese business people to a New York City campaign fundraiser in December 2017, it has been reported
Li Yang was photographed at the December 2017 fundraiser at Cipriani, a restaurant on East 42nd Street in New York City (seen above)
Yang also ran a consulting business in which she offered wealthy Chinese business people access to President Trump’s inner circle. She is seen third from right alongside a number of Chinese nationals. President Trump’s sister, Elizabeth Trump-Grau, is seen fifth from right
A source who attended the event said Yang bragged about arranging the arrival of a large group of businesspeople from mainland China.
‘They’re all my guests,’ she is reported to have said.
Nearly 100 Chinese nationals attended the New York fundraiser, according to the Herald.
According to U.S. law, it is illegal for foreign nationals to donate to political campaigns.
While foreigners are allowed to attend fundraisers, it would be illegal for foreigners to reimburse a U.S. citizen for paying for their entry into a fundraiser.
Yang, who was born in China, is a naturalized American citizen.
Yang’s consulting business, GY US Investments, promoted events at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Investors were led to believe they would have access to Trump’s inner circle.
One flier obtained by Mother Jones shows a flier in Chinese promoting a March 30, 2010 event at Mar-a-Lago featuring Elizabeth Trump-Grau, President Trump’s sister.
Yang’s consulting business, GY US Investments, promoted events at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Investors were led to believe they would have access to Trump’s inner circle. This flier promotes another event with Trump’s sister
Yang is seen above with Donald Trump Jr on left and Eric Trump on right
Picture perfect: ‘Leaders like you are the key to fulfilling our bold agenda to Make America Great Again,’ wrote Trump in a note to Yang signed by himself and the First Lady (above)
Trump’s campaign is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller over allegations that foreigners sought to influence the outcome of the election.
Neither Yang or her businesses are part of the investigation.
The Herald published a photo which shows Yang attending President Trump’s Super Bowl watch party at Mar-a-Lago in February.
While the New England Patriots played the Los Angeles Rams In Atlanta, Li Yang snapped a blurry selfie with a smiling Trump, who turned in his chair to look over his right shoulder for the photo.
He was seated at a round table decorated with paper-cutout footballs.
Nineteen days later, the 77-year-old Kraft, Trump’s longtime friend and Patriots owner, was charged with soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in nearby Jupiter, which Yang had founded more than a decade earlier.
Authorities said Kraft visited the spa on Jan. 19 and again on the morning of Jan. 20 and was caught on camera paying for oral sex.
He then flew to Kansas City, where his team was playing that night in the AFC Championship game.
Kraft has denied the charges and an arraignment has been set for March 28 in West Palm Beach.
Yang wasn’t charged in the multiagency anti-human trafficking operation that resulted in 25 arrests and shut down 10 Asian day spas in South Florida.
None of the spas are registered to Yang or her family.
She sold the Jupiter spa to Hua Zhang around 2013. Zhang was charged with racketeering and running a house of prostitution and has pleaded not guilty.
Yang’s family still owns several South Florida spas. The family’s Tokyo Day Spa branches have attracted the attention of at least two police agencies, the Herald reported.
Yang and the ‘Yanne: The spa founder poses up with Kellyanne Conway at an event last year
Behind the scenes: Yang attended events alongside the likes of Sebastian Gorka (left in 2017) and Brad Pascale (right in 2018)
The finer things: Yang and a friend at a 2018 event with Trump surrogates Diamond and Silk
The future is female: Yang at an event for Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro (left) and with Transportation Secretary Elaine Cho (right)
Yang told the Herald in a phone interview earlier this month that she and her family haven’t broken the law.
She said she is out of the business, would soon be relocating to Washington, and didn’t want any negative media attention.
The newspaper reported that Yang had not voted in 10 years before 2016 but she has become a fixture at Republican political events on the East Coast.
Her Facebook page contains photos of her with Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Jr., Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott, Sarah Palin and other Republican operators she met at charity events and fundraisers.
Yang started the Tokyo Day Spas chain in 2007.
The first to open is still in business and run by her husband, Zubin Gong, in Palm Beach Gardens.
The next was Tokyo Day Spa in Jupiter, which later became Orchids of Asia, the Herald reported.
Around three years ago, Yang announced she was pursuing a ‘new life’ in a series of Facebook posts.
This included an investment consulting business, a travel agency and a charity.
Yang told the Herald she doesn’t know the president personally.
‘I just come to some events. There’s nothing special,’ she said.