What happened
Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, was arrested Tuesday and charged with being an unregistered foreign agent of the Chinese government. Sun's husband, Christopher Hu, was also arrested and charged with money laundering, bank fraud and other crimes.
Who said what
Sun used her positions in New York's government, including as Hochul's deputy chief of staff, to "further the interests of the Chinese government," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. "The illicit scheme enriched the defendant's family to the tune of millions of dollars." Prosecutors said Sun and Hu used the Chinese payments to buy their $3.6 million Long Island house, a $1.9 million condo in Hawaii and several luxury cars, including a 2024 Ferrari. The couple also allegedly received all-expenses-paid trips to China and numerous deliveries of "Nanjing-style salted ducks" prepared by a Chinese government official's personal chef.
Hochul's office said Sun was fired in March 2023 due to "evidence of misconduct" that was "immediately reported" to law enforcement. The charges, "if true, would represent a brazen manipulation of New York State government at the highest level" by the Chinese government, The New York Times said.
What next?
Sun and Hu pleaded not guilty and were released on bond — $1.5 million for Sun, $500,000 for Hu. Their travel will be "limited to NYC, Long Island, Maine and New Hampshire," ABC7NY said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A drive in the desert, prayers with pigeons, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will drought fuel global violence?Podcast Plus why did Trump pardon a drug-trafficking president? And are romantic comedies in terminal decline?
-
Sudoku hard: December 5, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Looming drone ban has farmers and farm-state Republicans anxiousIN THE SPOTLIGHT As congressional China-hawks work to limit commercial drone sales from Beijing, a growing number of conservative lawmakers are sounding an agricultural alarm
-
Trump’s Ukraine peace talks advance amid leaked callSpeed Read Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Russia next week
-
Memo signals Trump review of 233k refugeesSpeed Read The memo also ordered all green card applications for the refugees to be halted
-
Pentagon targets Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ videoSpeed Read The Pentagon threatened to recall Kelly to active duty
-
Judge tosses Trump DOJ cases against Comey, JamesSpeed Read Both cases could potentially be brought again
-
US, Kyiv report progress on shifting Ukraine peace planSpeed Read The deal ‘must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty,’ the countries said
-
Comey grand jury never saw final indictmentSpeed Read This ‘drove home just how slapdash’ the case is, said The New York Times
-
Summers out at Harvard, OpenAI amid Epstein furorSpeed Read Summers was part of a group being investigated by Harvard for Epstein ties
