Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is demanding that the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General open an investigation into whether the White House has overruled the Secret Service in deciding who can meet with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
The letter — sent with Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) — requests a probe into how the Secret Service vets Mar-a-Lago guests while Trump is present, and whether the White House is interfering with the protective body’s ability to do its job.
Warren cites a Government Accountability Office report from last month, which found that the White House makes a final decision on who can enter the inner sanctum of Mar-a-Lago after vetting by the Secret Service.
The White House allegedly refused to cooperate with that investigation, an issue that Warren alluded to in the April 4 letter, addressed to Homeland Security Inspector General John V. Kelly.
“This refusal of the White House to cooperate with this investigation, combined with the arrest earlier this week and other allegations of easy access to the President and his family at Mar-a-Lago, mean that at least one key question remains open: is the White House appropriately reviewing and making the correct recommendations regarding which individuals are granted access to the President, at Mar-a-Lago and elsewhere?” the letter reads.
Warren cites the recent case of south Florida massage parlor mogul and alleged Mar-a-Lago influence peddler Cindy Yang, who has allegedly been charging Chinese notables for access to Trump’s winter White House. The Senator also references an alleged attempt on Saturday by a woman named Yujing Zhang to enter Mar-a-Lago while carrying a thumb drive full of malware.
Zhang faces a charge of trespassing and a charge of lying to federal agents for that attempt.
Warren called the reports “troubling” in the letter. The Secret Service issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the “host entity” is responsible for ultimately determining the guest list for Mar-a-Lago.
