Politics

Kraft's Florida Massage-Parlor Founder Sure Hung Out With Lots of Republicans Besides Trump

Cindy Yang via Facebook
The Miami Herald this morning broke a doozy of a story: Li "Cindy" Yang, the woman who founded the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida — where Patriots owner Robert Kraft was caught allegedly paying for sex from trafficked women — watched the Patriots-Rams Super Bowl with Donald Trump.

Notably, Yang sold the Orchids of Asia parlor long ago, but she still owns a series of massage houses. She danced around telling the Herald whether she was aware of prostitution or sex trafficking at the Jupiter facility. However, the Herald noted Yang's current chain, Tokyo Day Spa, has also been linked to claims of prostitution.

As if that story weren't ridiculous enough, a glance at Yang's Facebook page reveals Trump isn't the only prominent Florida Republican with whom she's been snapping selfies. In fact, she has seemingly hung out with every major member of the Sunshine State GOP except Marco Rubio. The list includes Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and even Florida resident and blockheaded Fox News pundit Dan Bongino. Check it out:
Does this mean there was some sort of Florida-wide sex-trafficking coven designed for high-level lawmakers? Almost certainly not. In reality, Yang seems to have simply gotten the same benefits that everyone else in Florida enjoys when they come into wealth: She donated tons of money to Republicans, who then hung out with her. The story appears to be that simple — all it takes to drink watered-down gin and tonics in the vicinity of these ghouls is to dump a few grand into a congressional political action committee somewhere. Then your party invitation arrives, seemingly no questions asked.
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Jerry Iannelli is a former staff writer for Miami New Times from 2015 to March 2020. He graduated with honors from Temple University. He then earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.

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