Ex-NY Aide Did China’s Bidding to ‘Get Rich,’ Says Prosecutor in Closing Arguments

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In his summing-up, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Solomon described Sun, who served under two New York governors, Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul, as a “valuable asset” for the New York Chinese consulate.

Sun faces allegations of acting as a Chinese agent and of bribery in connection with state contracts, among other charges. Her husband, Chris Hu, is charged as a co-conspirator.

The jury will begin deliberating her case on Dec. 11.

The prosecution alleged that Sun sold her access in the state government to China to “grease the wheels” and aid her husband’s seafood export business in that country.

Hu’s business was a flop in early 2016, but when a Chinese businessman with state connections stepped in, Hu’s business boomed, Solomon said.

Sun “did the bidding of the Chinese government so that she and her husband, Hu, could get rich,” he said.

The defense argued the government failed to provide evidence of a clear quid pro quo agreement between Sun and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. The defense argued there was no link between Hu’s business and Sun’s assistance to the consulate.

“The government wants you to assume that because Chris Hu’s business started doing well, it was connected to Linda,” said Ken Abell, Sun’s attorney, in closing arguments.

Abell said that Sun’s actions were not contrary to the interests of the United States or New Yorkers. Sun’s connection with the consulate helped secure a donation of 1,000 ventilators at the start of the pandemic, he said.

However, the government characterized Sun’s work at the start of the pandemic as self-interested.

“As COVID-19 was wreaking havoc on New York City, she thought to enrich herself,” said Solomon.

Sun first received benefits from Chinese officials in May 2016, Solomon said. As a representative of New York state, she travelled to the coastal province of Jiangsu, China, to promote business ties with New York, according to prosecutors. While in China, Sun allegedly met with the chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, an organization under the United Front Work Group. The chairman agreed to hire Sun’s cousin, who was looking for a job, according to prosecutors.

Almost immediately thereafter, Sun began to reciprocate, prosecutors said. In June 2016, she alerted the Chinese consulate that Taiwan had invited then-Lieutenant Governor Hochul to a banquet in Washington, and Hochul instead attended a banquet hosted by the Chinese embassy, the prosecution said.

Solomon cited several other incidents where Sun allegedly exerted her influence to thwart Taiwan from reaching the governor’s office, including blocking an invitation to Cuomo to join a banquet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in New York, and convincing Hochul’s staff to decline an invitation to visit Taiwan.

Sun’s attorney Abell said the “government left out facts that didn’t fit its narrative.” He argued that important context was not presented and that Sun, at times, pushed back on Chinese consulate requests.

“But who’s the boss?” asked Solomon. “The people she keeps in the dark, or the people she’s reporting back to? She’s talking to her real boss, Huang Ping.”

After assisting Huang with a welcome event for Chinese officials at JFK airport, she told the consul general, “I want to eat salted duck,” according to text messages.

Sun was telling Huang that “she did her job” and should be compensated, Solomon said.

Sun “bragged repeatedly to her handlers” about “what a good asset she had been,” he said.

Solomon said that in communications with the Chinese consulate, Sun didn’t hesitate to share the inner workings of the governor’s office, including that in 2018, Cuomo was considering replacing Hochul on the ticket in the coming election.

She also revealed to the Chinese consulate when the governor was reconsidering a trip to China when Chinese leader Xi Jinping was getting rid of term limits in 2018, telling the Chinese officials she spent a long time arguing on their behalf, Solomon said.

Solomon argued that revealing such internal discussions of the governor’s office is an example of Sun’s familiarity with the consulate, demonstrating which team she was really on.

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