Former owner of spa embroiled in Kraft charges denies selling access to Trump
The former owner of a massage parlor where Patriots owner Bob Kraft allegedly solicited prostitution, is denying that she ever sold access to President Trump. Cindy Yang told CBS affiliate WPEC-TV that she "never" had any private conversations with the president. Her spa was one of several parlors suspected of involvement in human trafficking.
The Miami Herald and Mother Jones magazine previously both reported that Yang created a business called "GY US Investments" whose website, since taken down, offered clients "the opportunity to interact with the President, the [American] Minister of Commerce and other political figures."
The company said it could arrange interactions including photos, roundtables and dinners with the president as well as access to the First Lady's charity balls.
Yang, who donated over $10,000 to the Trump campaign, came into the public spotlight after photos and videos of herself at a Mar-A-Lago Super Bowl party surfaced. Yang recorded a video of Mr. Trump asking guests if "keep America great" would be a good re-election slogan, and even snapped a selfie with the president.
She told WPEC-TV the controversy surrounding herself and businesses would never have happened if she didn't take that photo.
When asked about her relationship with Mr. Trump, Yang told CBS12, "No...I only talked to the president two sentences. 'Hi, Mr. President,'" and then, "'Can I take a picture with you?'"
Meanwhile, as top Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence and Judiciary committees have now charged the FBI to investigate Yang for potential criminal and counterintelligence violations, Yang told WPEC-TV that the probe is a witch hunt.
"I think that if I don't have the picture with the President, I don't see that happen," she said. She claimed Democrats were leading the effort "to damage the president. That's what I think."
In a letter obtained by CBS News, lawmakers said the allegations of selling access to the president raised "serious" counterintelligence concerns, specifically as it relates to the U.S.-China relationship.
"China has frequently used non-traditional intelligence collectors and businesspersons to compromise targets," the letter said.
Yang claimed that her LLC's site was set up to help business people come to America and what to do when they got here.
An earlier version of this story referenced an arrest in the headline; Kraft was never arrested, he was charged with soliciting prostitution while visiting a Florida massage parlor in January.