Introduction: The former assistant

U.S. Attorney Bryon Pace announced
Tuesday that a former aide to New York
Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov.

Andrew Cuomo have been charged
as agents of the Chinese government.
According to an unsealed version of the

indictment, Mr. Hochul and Linda Sun,
a former deputy in Mr. Cuomo’s office,
were charged with violating the Foreign

Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien
smuggling and conspiracy to
launder money.
Her husband and co-defendant,

Chris Ho, were also
charged with conspiracy
to commit money laundering,
conspiracy to commit bank fraud

and identity theft, prosecutors said.
Officials said her home was
searched by federal agents in July.
Sun “acted as an undercover agent

for the Chinese government while
facilitating the transfer
of millions of dollars
in bribes to her husband, Hu,

for personal gain,” prosecutors
said in a news release.
The next defendant status
conference is scheduled for September 4.

Mr. Sun held multiple government

Mr. Sun held multiple government titles for
more than a decade. His public employment
record and LinkedIn profile show
positions at multiple agencies focused

on economic development, workforce
and executive branch in New York.
After Hochul took over the state’s top

post in 2021, Sun was hired as chief of
staff for about a year
before moving to
the position of deputy secretary for strategic

trade in the Ministry of Labor, which the
ministry appointed chief staff in
March 2023. was ended

The 2023 firing came after the governor’s
office found “evidence
of misconduct,” Hochul’s

spokesman, Avi Small, said in a statement
to CNN, but did not
elaborate on the misconduct.
“(We) immediately reported his activities

to law enforcement and assisted law
enforcement throughout
the process,” Small said.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi
said in a statement that national security
must be “free from foreign influence.”

“When Ms. Sun was promoted to
deputy chief of staff in the next
administration, she had worked

at multiple agencies in our time and
was one of the few public affairs
representatives not connected
to the governor.”