CUOMO AND HOCHUL FLY CLOSE TO THE SUN: Linda Sun, a former staffer to Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested today for acting as a Chinese Communist spy — six weeks after the FBI raided her home. According to the damning 64-page indictment unsealed after her arrest, Sun worked for China and received luxurious gifts in return — all while moonlighting for the Cuomo and Hochul administrations. Perks she allegedly received included a $3.6 million home in a ritzy Manhasset, a $1.9 million vacation home in Hawaii, a Ferrari, a Range Rover, event tickets, travel benefits — and even specially delivered Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a Chinese government official’s personal chef. In return, the indictment alleges Sun boosted New York politicians’ relationships with China and thwarted the Taiwanese government’s efforts to engage with Hochul and Cuomo’s teams. “The defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said today. According to the Eastern District, Sun and Hu pleaded not guilty this afternoon. Sun was released on a $1.5 million bond and was instructed not to have any contact with the Chinese consulate and mission. Much of her alleged law breaking appears to have happened during her time with the Cuomo administration, when New York was dealing with a raging pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China. Hochul’s team said they got word of Sun’s “misconduct” last year and alerted authorities. “We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” Hochul spokesperson Avi Small told Playbook. News of Sun’s indictment comes amid other high-profile local probes into foreign influence. Former New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was convicted in July for taking bribes from the Egyptian government. And foreign influence investigations surrounding Mayor Eric Adams and his administration have led to the FBI raiding the homes of his associates, including Winnie Greco, Brianna Suggs, Rana Abbasova — as well as to the feds seizing the mayor’s electronic devices. Sun’s arrest doesn’t come at the best time for Cuomo either. He is reportedly eyeing a career comeback and is set to testify before congress next Tuesday over his handling of the pandemic. The indictment includes a laundry list of alleged crimes and favors Sun carried out for the Chinese government while working for Cuomo and Hochul. For starters: Sun allegedly altered a Cuomo press release by cutting language that referred to Taiwan as a country; she worked to stop the Cuomo administration from acknowledging a PPE donation from Taiwan; she blocked meetings and phone calls between Taiwanese officials and New York political administrations; she orchestrated the donation of 1,000 ventilators and other PPE to the Cuomo administration, a donation which Cuomo made sure to credit Chinese officials for; and she made sure speeches didn’t address the detention of China’s Muslim minority. And, according to the indictment, she even let Chinese officials listen in on online government meetings. Through it all, she orchestrated millions of dollars in business deals for her husband Chris Hu’s Chinese-connected company. “That the Chinese Community Party infiltrated the highest levels of state government is surreal, completely unacceptable and deeply unsettling,” said state Sen. Jake Ashby, a Republican who is calling for a bipartisan investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s “infiltration of state government.” “National security is critical and must be free from foreign influence,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi 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.” — Jason Beeferman
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