Who Is Cindy Yang? Trump-Supporting Florida Spa Owner May Face FBI Investigation

Top Democrats have called on the FBI to investigate Li “Cindy” Yang, a Florida spa owner accused of selling access to President Donald Trump and his associates.

Yang, a Chinese immigrant and the founder of a chain of massage parlors in Florida, was accused of creating a business that offered clients an opportunity to meet Trump and other political figures. The company also claimed it could arrange a photography opportunity with the president as well as White House dinners. Yang herself got to meet Trump on two occasions. She was first snapped with him at the president’s annual Super Bowl party in February and later on at a separate Republican National Committee fundraiser earlier in March.

She also previously owned a spa in Jupiter, Florida, that allegedly sold sexual services to clients including Patriots owner Bob Kraft. She was not implicated in the matter and Kraft too denied the allegations.

Four Democrats — House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY), House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA), Senate Judiciary Committee Vice Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) — have asked the FBI to open both criminal and counterintelligence investigations into “credible allegations of potential human trafficking, as well as unlawful foreign lobbying, campaign finance and other activities by Ms. Yang.”

"Although Ms. Yang's activities may only be those of an unscrupulous actor allegedly selling access to politicians for profit, her activities also could permit adversary governments or their agents access to these same politicians to acquire potential material for blackmail or other even more nefarious purposes,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday, CBS News reported.

Calling the push for an investigation politically motivated, Yang’s attorney Evan W. Turk said, “We have seen the Democratic partisan letter and allegations. Our firm will represent our client, and her interests as an American. This seems to be another politically driven fishing expedition. We will be addressing these matters when appropriate,” the Miami Herald reported.

The 45-year-old started a chain of spas called Tokyo Day Spas throughout Florida. A sex-trafficking probe revealed that most women worked in the spa were Chinese nationals who were forced to live there against their will. Though Yang claimed to have sold the spa prior to the scandal involving Kraft, she still owned several South Florida spas that were under the scanner for similar allegations.

The Miami Herald revealed that Yang was not active in politics until Trump came to power. Since 2016, she donated over $16,000 to Trump’s campaign as well as $42,000 to a Trump political action committee. She gained attention due to her social media posts in which she posed with Trump.