Text messages revealed that accused Chinese foreign agent Linda Sun believed Andrew Cuomo’s then-Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul was “more obedient” than Governor Cuomo in 2021.
The texts were presented as evidence in Sun’s trial on eight federal charges of acting as an undisclosed foreign agent for the Communist Party of China.
Sun served as Deputy Chief Diversity Officer from 2018-2020 under Cuomo and Deputy Chief of Staff to Hochul from 2021-2022. In addition to acting as an unregistered foreign agent, Trump’s Justice Department also accused Sun of forging Hochul’s signature when she was Lieutenant Governor to curry favor with Chinese officials.
Sun convinced Hochul to film a Chinese New Year video after failing to secure Cuomo’s participation. For these services, Sun was paid millions in cash, expensive Chinese delicacies and free concert tickets. These kickbacks allowed Sun and her husband to drive around in a Ferrari Roma and purchase a $4 million home in Long Island and a $2 million home in Hawaii.
The text message exchange, dated from January 2021, was between Sun and Li Hua, who headed the Chinese consulate. Sun had just informed Li that Hochul had filmed the Chinese New Year’s video and added “She is much more obedient than the governor.” About twelve minutes later, when Li thanked Sun for her efforts, Sun replied “You’re welcome. The deputy governor listens to me more than the governor does 😊,” with a smiling face emoji at the end of the message.
It should be noted that this exchange happened in January 2021, just as the COVID 19 Pandemic, created in Chinese labs, had killed 384,531 Americans in 2020 alone. This is more than the 292,131 combat deaths suffered by the US in World War II. Sun was attempting to shore up China’s image in the United States in the midst of the pandemic that was more deadly than German or Japanese bullets from 1941-1945.
