Ex-aide to 2 NY governors accused of covertly working for China pleads not guilty

BROOKLYN (CN) — A former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday to charges of acting as an agent on behalf of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, receiving millions of dollars’ worth of property and perks in exchange.

Linda Sun is charged alongside her husband, Chris Hu, who also pleaded not guilty.

According to a scathing indictment unsealed shortly after her arrest, the 41-year-old Sun acted as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while serving as a staffer to both Hochul and former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The charges include violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

At Tuesday’s arraignment in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo, Sun was released on a $1.5 million bond and Hu was released on a $500,000 bond. Both were instructed to limit their travel to New York City, Long Island, Maine and New Hampshire. Sun is also not allowed to have any contact with the People’s Republic of China consulate.

In comments to reporters after the arraignment, Sun and Hu’s attorneys maintained their clients’ innocence.

“We have a lot of confidence in our case. A lot of the allegations in the indictment are frankly perplexing and really inflammatory,” said Seth DuCharme, Hu’s attorney of the firm Bracewell LLP. DuCharme is a former acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Sun was represented by Jarrod Schaeffer of the firm Abell Eskew Landau LLP. “Our client is understandably upset these challenges have been brought,” Schaeffer said Tuesday. “We are looking forward to addressing them in court.”

As part of the scheme, prosecutors say, Sun blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from access to high-level New York State officers; facilitated communications between New York state officers and Chinese government officials; and organized travel for Chinese government officials to come to the United States.

As described in the indictment, most of the events occurred under Cuomo’s administration including a private New York state government conference call concerning the health response to the Covid-19 pandemic in which Sun covertly added a Chinese government official to the call.

In exchange for her actions, prosecutors say she received a $4.1 million real estate property in New York, a $2.1 million condominium in Hawaii, a 2024 Ferrari and even Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a Chinese government official’s personal chef.

“As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as deputy chief of staff within the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement.

Prosecutors say Sun also altered a press release by cutting language that referred to Taiwan as a country and orchestrated the donation of 1,000 ventilators and other personal protective equipment to the Cuomo administration.

“National security is critical and must be free from foreign influence,” Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson, said in a statement. “While Ms. Sun was promoted to deputy chief of staff in the subsequent administration, during our time she worked in a handful of agencies and was one of many community liaisons who had little to no interaction with the governor.”

Hochul’s administration was also been criticized by New York Republicans following Sun’s indictment.

“This is another example of New York Democrats facilitating the influence campaign of Communist China," U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik said in a statement. “I am calling for a complete investigation into Kathy Hochul and her administration so that hardworking New York taxpayers receive the transparency we deserve.”

Sun and Hu are expected to appear for their initial status conference on Sept. 25.

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