Ex-Hochul Aide, Accused of Selling Out to China, Heads to Trial

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NEW YORK CITY—A former aide to two New York governors appeared for her first day of trial on Nov. 12 on charges that she sold her political access in exchange for millions of dollars in payments to her husband’s business.

In a criminal complaint, U.S. authorities said Sun and Hu made millions of dollars through their China-based business. Sun also benefited in other ways, receiving gifts from Chinese officials such as concert tickets and Chinese delicacies in return for her actions, according to the prosecutors.

“Linda Sun was for sale,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Shami said in an opening statement, describing the trial as one about “betrayal” and “greed.”

In the coming days, Shami said, current and former employees for the New York state government will testify against Sun in court and the prosecutors will present evidence of Sun boasting to the Chinese Consulate about her sway over state policy.

Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, worked for about 15 years under New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She faces charges of failing to register as a foreign agent, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and bank fraud, as well as committing visa fraud and bringing aliens into the United States. Sun has pleaded not guilty.

Court documents allege that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun helped Chinese consular officials get on a private New York state government conference call concerning the administration’s efforts to combat the disease and to address rising hate crimes against Asian Americans.

During a call in March 2020, Sun repeatedly warned the Chinese official to “keep [the] phone muted,” according to the documents. At the end of the call, the official allegedly told Sun that the call was “very useful.”

In April 2020, Sun asked a high-ranking Chinese Consulate official to promote a freight company owned by a close friend of Hu, according to prosecutors. Sun shortly afterward thanked the same official for complimenting her work in front of her superior.

“[The Chinese official replied that he was] compelled to compliment SUN’s work, which he characterized as phenomenal,” the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Chinese officials helped facilitate millions of dollars in transactions for Hu’s China-based business. The Department of Justice alleges that Sun and her husband put their ill-gotten gains into a house in Manhasset, New York, currently valued at about $4 million; a 47th-floor condo in Hawaii currently valued at $2.1 million; and a 2024 Ferrari Roma, a 2024 Range Rover L460, and a 2022 Mercedes GLB250W4.

Sun, while working for New York state, also allegedly modified public statements and policies of state officials to align with the Chinese Communist Party’s preferences, including those related to Taiwan and the detention of Uyghur Muslims in Chinese labor camps. She also allegedly facilitated contracts between the New York state government and two companies run by Sun’s cousin and Hu’s business associate, reaping kickbacks without disclosing the personal connections.

Shami said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun “betrayed the people of New York when they were most vulnerable.”

“As they took in millions in 2020 and 2021, they were hiding that wealth,” she said.

Sun’s lawyer, Jarrod Schaeffer, said, “She did what she was hired to do.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and New York state needed medical equipment, he said, Sun was “working around the clock for New Yorkers.”

“Nothing is going to show Linda Sun was working for China,” he said.

He argued that Sun’s communications with Chinese officials were only her “doing her job.”

“This is a New Yorker who was working for New Yorkers,” Schaeffer said. “You won’t see evidence that China did anything to help Chris Hu with his business.”

The judge expects the trial to extend into mid-December.

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