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Former Hochul and Cuomo aide accused of working for China goes on trial in Brooklyn
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Ben Feuerherd
Published Nov 12, 2025
Modified Nov 12, 2025
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Walter Wuthmann/Gothamist
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Ben Feuerherd
Published Nov 12, 2025
Modified Nov 12, 2025
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Federal prosecutors accused a former aide to New York Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo of using her position to betray the United States on behalf of the Chinese government in opening statements at her trial Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Linda Sun worked within New York’s government to advance the interests of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party. She faces charges of being an unregistered foreign agent for China, as well as wire and visa fraud, bribery and money laundering. She and her husband Chris Hu, who’s accused of helping launder the kickbacks through a web of family connections and businesses, have both pleaded not guilty.
“This is a case about betrayal. This is a case about greed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Shami told jurors at federal court in Brooklyn. “Public servants are meant to serve the public, not themselves.”
Sun’s and Hu’s lawyers have vigorously denied the charges and on Wednesday sought to poke holes in the prosecution’s narrative.
“Linda never had to register as a foreign agent, because she wasn’t one,” defense attorney Jarrod Schaeffer said in his opening statement. “She is an American and she is a New Yorker.”
Schaeffer argued it was Sun’s job to liaise with Chinese officials in New York and give advice to the Cuomo and Hochul administrations. “The government is wrong and Linda is not guilty,” the attorney said.
Sun worked in multiple senior roles across state government from 2012 to 2023, including chief diversity officer at the Department of Financial Services under Cuomo and deputy chief of staff to Hochul. Prosecutors said in that time Sun accepted bribes in exchange for secretly acting on behalf of the Chinese government.
Sun “surreptitiously” added a Chinese government official to a private conference call about New York’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said Sun also edited a press release to remove references to Taiwan as a country and discouraged Hochul and her staff from addressing China’s repression of the Uyghur ethnic minority group. In another instance, Sun forged Hochul’s signature as part of a visa application for a visiting Chinese delegation, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said in return Sun and her husband received lavish kickbacks, allegedly evidenced by their $3.6 million mansion in Manhasset, Long Island, $1.9 million Hawaii condo, 2024 Ferrari Roma, and an apparently steady diet of Nanjing salted ducks prepared by a Chinese official’s personal chef and delivered to Sun’s parents’ home.
The charges against Sun and Hu grew this summer, when prosecutors filed a superseding indictment accusing them of operating a pandemic-era fraud scheme involving personal protective equipment. The couple steered state contracts for things like masks and gloves toward companies controlled by family and friends in China, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said Sun “never registered as a foreign agent with the attorney general and in fact actively concealed that she took actions at the order, request or direction” of the Chinese government and Communist Party. She is not charged with espionage but with the lesser charge of failing to register as a foreign agent.
Sun’s defense team has argued in pre-trial motions that she didn’t have to register as a foreign agent because her recommendations to Cuomo and Hochul and actions at work were aligned with U.S. policy. Schaeffer on Wednesday said Sun’s advice to stay clear of controversial topics like Taiwan was “politics as usual.”
It’s unclear whether Cuomo, Hochul or their representatives will be called to testify during the trial. Spokespeople for Hochul and Cuomo did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday.
The trial is being administered by U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan, who previously oversaw the 2019 case against notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Judge Cogan told jurors he estimated the trial could last 3 to 4 weeks. Once the jury left for the day, he warned both sides to avoid references to spying or espionage and stick to the narrower charges at hand.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Tagged
Kathy Hochul
Politics
china
new york city
new york state
public safety
Walter Wuthmann
Walter Wuthmann is a reporter covering public safety and the legal system.
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Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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