A former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) accused of serving as an agent for China bragged about Hochul’s willingness to listen to her, newly unearthed texts show.
Linda Sun, who is currently on trial for allegedly spying on China’s behalf, boasted about getting then-Lieutenant Governor Hochul to make a Lunar New Year video in 2021 celebrating the state’s Chinese consulate, according to texts shared at Sun’s criminal trial.
“She is much more obedient than the governor,” reads a message she sent to Chinese consular official Lihua Li, the New York Post reported Thursday.
“The deputy governor listens to me more than the governor does,” Sun said in another text sent minutes later to the then-head of the consulate office, Huang Ping.
Sun was referring to then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), who resigned in disgrace in 2021 over allegations of sexual harassment and his role in New York’s Covid-19 nursing home death scandal.
Representative Elise Stefanik (R), Hochul’s main rival in next year’s gubernatorial election, blasted Hochul for lacking backbone and being subservient to China.
“Not only is Kathy Hochul the most corrupt and Worst Governor in America, but she’s also the most compromised. It turns out Compromised Kathy bent the knee to her own Communist aide even before she bent the knee to New York City’s Socialist mayor-elect,” Stefanik said,
“New Yorkers deserve a leader with a backbone—not someone who bends to the whims of an alleged Chinese agent in the middle of a corruption trial.”
Stefanik also shared the two-minute Lunar New Year video Hochul appeared in. The video remains publicly available on the New York Chinese consulate’s official YouTube page.
The messages were publicized Thursday after being shown to the jury earlier this week, according to the Post. The Chinese consulate wanted Cuomo to film the video, but Sun assured them she could convince Hochul to record it, the messages show. Sun promised she would deliver “talking points” of the consulate’s choosing for Hochul to mention in the video.
Sun was indicted in September 2024 on federal corruption charges for allegedly serving as an unregistered Chinese agent. Federal prosecutors have accused Sun of receiving millions worth of kickbacks for working on China’s behalf. Sun is also facing charges for money laundering, visa fraud, and alien smuggling.
The Justice Department brought additional corruption charges against Sun earlier this year for allegedly directing government contracts to Chinese companies tied to her husband and second cousin. Sun’s case is one of the highest-profile demonstrations of China’s attempt to gather intelligence and cultivate influence across American institutions.
Through her attorneys, Sun has vigorously denied the allegations leveled against her. Earlier in Sun’s weeks-long criminal trial, documents came to light that appeared to show Sun forged Hochul’s signature in 2018 during correspondence with Chinese officials.
Hochul downplayed Sun’s role in her office upon her indictment. Sun was Hochul’s deputy chief of staff and previously worked in Cuomo’s administration. When Hochul hired Sun in 2021, she touted Sun as the administration’s highest ranking Asian official.
Sun is not the only former Hochul aide with links to the Chinese Communist Party. National Review previously reported on emails showing another former Hochul aide’s close relationship with Hong Kong’s authoritarian, CCP-controlled government. The messages provided a glimpse into the methods Beijing-tied nonprofits used to quietly cultivate relationships with U.S. counterparts.
New York City has been a premier destination for Chinese influence building and electioneering. Chinese officials have co-opted social clubs for immigrants into political vehicles to undermine candidates opposed to the CCP’s agenda.