Super Bowl selfie emerges of Trump with founder of spa tied to New England Patriots owner's charges

Authored by thehill.com and submitted by lodestar_resistance
image for Super Bowl selfie emerges of Trump with founder of spa tied to New England Patriots owner's charges

A selfie-style photo from President Trump Donald John TrumpHickenlooper swipes at Trump in campaign launch: He's 'destroying our democracy' Overnight Defense: Pentagon asked to house up to 5,000 migrant children | Judge lifts last injunction against transgender ban | Senators voice anger over problems with military housing | General warns ISIS waiting to resurge Cummings says he needs to examine Cohen's testimony further amid GOP allegations of perjury MORE’s annual Super Bowl watch party emerged on Friday showing the president with the founder of a chain of Florida spas — including the one where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting prostitution.

Trump and Kraft are longtime friends, and the president famously roots for the Patriots.

Kraft was busted in a prostitution ring on Feb. 22 at one of the spas founded by 45-year-old Li Yang, one of the women in the selfie with Trump.

Yang sold the spa, now called the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, in 2013.

The Feb. 3 photo obtained by the Miami Herald appears to be taken sometime during the Super Bowl party at Trump’s West Palm Beach county club. The Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams in the big game.

The president is seen smiling for a photo with two women at a table behind him. One of the women photographed in the selfie was Yang, according to the Herald.

It is unclear if Trump knows Yang or the other woman in the photo, which looks like the kind of selfie Trump probably frequently gets requested to take with fans.

Kraft was arrested less than three weeks after the photo was taken.

Yang was not charged in the anti-human trafficking operation conducted last month, the Herald noted. Ten Asian day spas were shut down in the sting, but none were registered to her or her family.

She told the Herald in what it described as a brief phone interview that she and her family have not broken the law and that she was out of the spa business.

Kraft, 77, was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution after police said he was captured on video soliciting the illicit activities at the spa. He has since pleaded not guilty.

Trump said he was “surprised” to see the charges against his longtime friend and called the situation “very sad.”

Yang previously showed no political engagement before Trump ran for office in 2016, having not voted for the 10 years prior to his White House bid, The Herald reported.

The businesswoman has since attended several Republican political events, including being invited to the White House in February 2018 for an event hosted by the Asian American and Pacific Islander Initiative, an advisory commission Trump established by executive order the year before.

Her Facebook page includes a signed photograph of her standing next to the president.

Additional images show her posing with Republican Sen. Rick Scott, Gov. Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantisFlorida Senate votes to repeal ban on smokable medical marijuana Sheriff suspended after Parkland shooting sues to get job back Majority of Floridians opposed to Trump reelection: poll MORE and the president’s adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric.

In addition to attending Republican fundraisers and galas, often clutching a rhinestone encrusted “MAGA” purse, the Herald found records of Yang’s political contributions.

Yang and her close relatives have donated more than $42,000 to Trump Victory, a political action committee, and more than $16,000 to the Trump campaign, the newspaper reported.

– This story was updated at 2:54 p.m. to correctly reflect the timing and location of Kraft's arrest

daysnotmonths on March 8th, 2019 at 17:32 UTC »

I recommend reading the original Miami Herald article that this story is based on. This woman, whose family still owns Day Spas in South Florida, has become very politically active in Republican circles since Trump got elected.

Over the past two years, Yang has racked up a who’s who of photos with politicians at more than a dozen political events. She has enough pictures of the president’s private clubs to fill an album.

In 2018, she attended a Safari Night at Mar-a-Lago hosted by the president’s sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau, as well as the White House’s celebration of the Lunar New Year at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. She took photos with Florida’s soon-to-be-governor, Ron DeSantis, at a pro-Israel gala held at Mar-a-Lago, met U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao in Washington D.C., and posed with Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, U.S. Rep Matt Gaetz and former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. She also posted a photograph of herself with DeSantis at a restaurant, saying she was having “brunch this morning with Florida’s next Governor.”

She was photographed with Donald Trump Jr. at a winter Mar-a-Lago gala for Turning Points USA, the conservative college organization, and met Eric Trump last month.

In January, she attended the Sunshine Ball in Washington D.C. hosted by Rick Scott, snagging a photo with the newly elected senator.

She has also posted photos of herself meeting conservative celebrities, including former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, onetime Trump administration adviser Sebastian Gorka, Fox News host Jesse Watters, commentator Dan Bongino and actor Jon Voight.

wubism on March 8th, 2019 at 17:13 UTC »

Worth noting that Adam Schefter reported that Robert Kraft was not the biggest name involved. I doubt it is Trump, but would not be surprised one bit given the absurdity of his presidency thus far.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/22/report-robert-kraft-is-not-the-biggest-name-involved-in-prostitution-case/

baking_bad on March 8th, 2019 at 16:56 UTC »

Even if we ignore the Trump angle, these are some strange freaking coincidences. Why is the founder of a hand job spa getting tickets to a superbowl watch part with the president, let alone close enough to take this picture with Trump? Does she have actual connections to Trump or Kraft?

I keep coming back to the thought, why would a famous billionaire (Kraft) be getting such low end prostitutes in such an easily exposed manner?