Ex-top NY aide accused of being secret agent for China in exchange for lavish perks as fed trial begins: ‘Linda Sun was for sale’

Linda Sun “was for sale,” federal prosecutors charged Wednesday as the former top aide to Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo went on trial for allegedly betraying New Yorkers in favor of the Chinese government.

Sun, 42, sat calmly as Assistant US Attorney Amanda Shami launched into withering opening statements outlining the feds’ case that the ex-official acted as a secret agent for China in exchange for a shower of payoffs and lavish high-end goodies.

“Her loyalty was for sale, and the Chinese government, which wanted to influence the New York government, was willing to pay her to do their bidding,” Shami said in Brooklyn federal court, dramatically pointing in Sun’s direction at one point.

“Linda Sun was for sale.”

The arguments launched what’s expected to be a bombshell one-month trial for Sun and her businessman husband, Chris Hu, 42, who are charged with fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

Sun, who’s also charged with acting as a foreign agent for China, had worked under Hochul and her predecessor, ex-gov-turned-mayoral-loser Cuomo.

She allegedly used her position of power to sway the gubernatorial duo toward benefitting Chinese interests — including by once stopping Cuomo from publicly thanking the communist nation’s rival Taiwan.

She even bragged about her duplicitous dealings to Chinese officials in texts, Shami told jurors.

Sun also doctored emails to falsely claim a third party had endorsed a PPE company run by her cousin as the Empire State doled out lucrative contracts during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shami charged.

Chinese governmental officials in turn paid off Sun by steering millions of dollars in contracts to an outpost of Hu’s lobster exporting business, as well as the PPE-related “kickbacks,” Shami claimed.

Sun was also showered with gifts, including paid trips to China, free hotel stays, and free tickets to concerts, Shami said.

Shami notably didn’t mention the fancy salted ducks Sun allegedly also received from her Beijing backers.

But Sun’s defense attorney Jarrod Schaeffer countered that she wasn’t a secret agent for China, but actually a dedicated public servant.

“Linda Sun did what she was hired to do. She didn’t commit a crime by doing her job,” he argued.

“The evidence will show that Linda was working on behalf of New Yorkers,” he told the jury, adding later that, “This New Yorker was working for New York.”

Schaeffer acknowledged Sun received gifts, as well as steered New York leaders away from touchy topics for China. 

But that didn’t make her an agent for China, he argued.

“Isn’t that just politics?” he asked.