Texts show indicted ex-New York staffer bragged about influence over Kathy Hochul

BROOKLYN (CN) — Linda Sun, a former high-ranking state official in New York, purportedly had more trouble getting then-Governor Andrew Cuomo to do what she wanted than his second-in-command at the time, Kathy Hochul, according to a batch of text messages shown to federal jurors in Brooklyn this week.

“The deputy governor listens to me more than the governor does,” Sun said to Consul General Huang Ping in a 2021 text message, punctuated by a smiley face emoji.

Sun sent the message after successfully getting Hochul to star in a two-minute Lunar New Year video for the Chinese consulate, in which the lieutenant governor wished viewers “xin nian kuai le,” or Happy New Year. Other public figures took part in the campaign, too, like then-Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and then-president of Harvard University Lawrence Bacow.

The consulate initially wanted Cuomo to take part instead. Vice Consul Lihua Li asked Sun earlier in the year if Cuomo would be interested in making a minute-long video to “say a few words to those who celebrate this holiday,” according to the text messages.

“Let me ask, but likely the LG can probably do it,” Sun replied, referring to Hochul.

Two weeks later, Sun sent over the completed video message from the lieutenant governor.

“She’s much more obedient than the governor,” Sun said in a subsequent message — which FBI agent Rebecca Sidhu testified Wednesday was “not appropriate” for Sun to have texted.

Sun is on trial fighting accusations that she took bribes and gifts from Chinese officials to influence the governor’s office. Serving as a top liaison between New York state officials and the Chinese government, prosecutors claim Sun used her position to perform favors for Beijing, like giving Chinese government officials insider information on New York’s Covid-19 response and blocking Taiwanese government representatives from accessing state officials.

In one instance, she is accused of cutting language out of a state press release that referred to Taiwan as a country. And according to the newly unearthed text messages shown to jurors this week, she supposedly sparred with Cuomo’s speechwriter about China’s treatment of the Uyghurs — a minority group that has been subjected to human rights abuses by the Chinese government for the past decade.

“I am trying to get the governor to record a video for CGCC,” Sun texted Consul General Ping in 2021. “Our speech writer insisted on mentioning the Uyghur situation in China.”

“I am going to collapse,” Sun continued. “I will think of a solution tomorrow, but I will definitely not let the governor bring this up.”

According to Sun’s defense team, this is precisely what their client’s job was: to facilitate relations between the Chinese government and New York by helping the governor navigate controversial political topics. Defense attorney Jarrod Schaeffer told jurors last month that Sun “did what she was hired to do” by advocating for Chinese Americans in New York.

More text messages displayed to the court this week show Sun trying to salvage a visit to China for Cuomo, while Chinese President Xi Jinping was in the midst of abolishing presidential term limits in March of 2018.

“I spent last night arguing that Xi getting rid of term limits is not something that should deter our trip,” Sun texted a Chinese official. “Our office is worried that President Xi getting rid of term limits is very undemocratic.”

Prosecutors say she went too far, arguing she was paid handsomely — and illegally — to peddle Chinese influence in the state’s executive office. Despite her relatively modest salary as a public employee, Sun owned a 2024 Ferrari Roma, as well as pricey properties in Long Island and Hawaii, which the government claims is a direct result of her unregistered lobbying work for Chinese officials.

She also received tickets to live events, free travel and even Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a Chinese government official’s personal chef. Prosecutors say she failed to properly report these gifts on financial disclosure forms.

Sun first joined the Cuomo administration in 2012. In 2021, when Hochul became governor on the heels of Cuomo’s resignation, Sun rose to become the governor’s deputy chief of staff. She later moved to the state’s labor department until she was fired for misconduct in 2023.

Sun, out on a $1.5 million bond, is standing trial on charges including violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. She is being tried alongside her husband, Chris Hu, who is accused of keeping his seafood company afloat with Sun’s favors for China and laundering some of her purported kickbacks.

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