A former deputy chief of staff for a prominent Democrat has been indicted for allegedly acting as a foreign agent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Linda Sun, a former top aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), was arrested and charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, along with visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Sun’s husband, Chris Hu, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, misuse of means of identification, and money laundering conspiracy.
BREAKING.🚨
There it is. New York Governor Kathy Hochul's former deputy chief of staff has been charged with being an espionage agent of the Chinese Communist Party.
"Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging Linda Sun with violating and… pic.twitter.com/YSigOoSo6v
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 3, 2024
Sun was allegedly paid millions of dollars by the Chinese government — which the DOJ refers to as the “PRC” in the indictment, using the objectively false phrase that the Chinese government calls itself, the “People’s Republic of China” — and the CCP to act as a spy while serving as a staffer for Hochul and working in several other state agencies, according to prosecutors.
The DOJ issued a statement explaining the allegations against Sun, which read: “Acting at the request of PRC government officials and the CCP representatives, Sun engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP, including blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers; changing high-level New York State officers’ messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by a high-level New York State politician; and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York State government officials.”
The DOJ also explained that Sun is accused of providing improper benefits to Chinese government officials and CCP officials via giving them “unauthorized invitation letters from the office of high-level New York State officers that were used to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with New York State government officials.”
Using these invitations, Sun facilitated transporting Chinese nationals into the United States illegally.
She was reportedly provided with “substantial” benefits as compensation for her criminal activity, including “the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Hu; travel benefits; tickets to events; promotion of a close family friend’s business; employment for Sun’s cousin in the PRC; and Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a PRC government official’s personal chef that were delivered to the residence of Sun’s parents.”
Both Sun and her husband also allegedly laundered the money to buy “real estate property in Manhasset, New York currently valued at $4.1 million, a condominium in Honolulu, Hawaii currently valued at $2.1 million, and various luxury automobiles, including a 2024 Ferrari.”
Sun and Hu’s $3.5 million home in Long Island, New York, was raided by the FBI in July in connection to these charges, though at that time they had not been publicly accused of any criminal wrongdoing and it was unclear at the time whether authorities seized anything from the home.
