Ex-Hochul aide arrested, accused of being agent of China

A former New York state government official who worked for both Govs. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Kathy Hochul (D) was arrested Tuesday after being charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government.

Linda Sun, who worked for the government from 2012 to 2023 and eventually became Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, was arrested alongside her husband, Chris Hu, at their $3.6 million Long Island home, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

In an indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York and released Tuesday, prosecutors said Sun acted as an undisclosed agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Sun and Hu both pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the United States Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern District of New York told The Hill. Sun was to be released on a $1.5 million bond, and Hu on a $500,000 bond. They will have travel limited to only New York City, Long Island, Maine and New Hampshire. Sun may not have contact with the People’s Republic of China.

The indictment alleges Sun engaged in “numerous political activities” in China’s interest, including “blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access” to the governor’s office, changing New York governmental messaging around issues of importance to China and obtaining governor’s office proclamations for China without proper authorization, among others.

Sun violated internal rules to provide “improper benefits” to Chinese representatives, including letters that facilitated the unlawful travel of Chinese officials to the United States, the indictment says.

“In return for these and other actions, the defendant Linda Sun received substantial economic and other benefits” from the Chinese government, including millions of dollars for her husband’s Chinese transactions, travel benefits, event tickets, promotion of a close friend’s business, family employment and a Chinese government official’s personal chef who prepared “Najing-style salted ducks,” according to the indictment.

Sun and her husband laundered the money to buy their $3.6 million home in New York, a $1.9 million condo in Hawaii and “various luxury automobiles.” She never disclosed the benefits she received to the New York government, which as a government employee she is required to do, the indictment said.

Neither Cuomo nor Hochul was named in the sprawling indictment. A spokesperson for Hochul’s office said Sun was hired by the Executive Chamber “more than a decade ago.”

“We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” Hochul’s office said.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Sun and her husband “worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” the AP reported.

“The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars,” Peace said.