What we know about the FBI raid and Linda Sun

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Jul 24, 2024 View in browser   By Jason Beeferman FBI agents raided the home of Linda Sun, a former employee for the administrations of Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul, on Tuesday | AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall The Long Island home of Linda Sun — a former appointee to Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo — was raided by the FBI yesterday. Exactly why Sun and her husband were the target of an FBI search is still unknown, but details are beginning to emerge around Sun — the latest person in New York politics whose home or property was raided by the FBI (See: Winnie Greco, Briana Suggs and Rana Abbasova — all connected to the mayor of New York City.) Here’s what we know about Linda Sun: 1. She was fired from the Department of Labor for “misconduct” in 2023 A source in state government, who requested anonymity to freely provide details about Sun, said she was fired from her job in the Department of Labor in March of 2023 after the administration discovered “evidence of misconduct.” “Immediately upon discovering the evidence of misconduct, the administration referred the matter to law enforcement authorities,” the source said. Sun could not be reached for comment. 2. She served in mid-level roles within the Cuomo and Hochul administrations. Sun was brought on by the Cuomo administration in 2012 to be their liaison to the AAPI community and work on intergovernmental affairs in Queens. After three years with Cuomo, Sun worked for Empire State Development for another three years as “Director of External Affairs for Global NY,” according to her Linkedin profile. The job included leading trade and investment missions to five countries each year and “negotiating mutually beneficial deliverables in-line with NYS trade and foreign direct investment goals,” according to the profile. She then took a job as deputy chief diversity officer in Cuomo’s executive chamber in 2018, before moving to the Department of Financial Services, before being hired by Hochul in September 2021 to work as her deputy chief of staff. In 2022, she left the chamber to work for the state’s Department of Labor. In New York State government, secretary to the governor — not chief of staff — is the most powerful position within the executive chamber. 3. She has a really, really nice house The home the FBI raided on Tuesday was in a gated community in ritzy Manhasset on Long Island’s North Shore. It last sold for $3.5 million, according to property records. The home has five bedrooms and six bathrooms, and costs over $50,000 in property taxes, according to real estate websites Zillow and Compass. According to the Empire Center’s SeeThroughNY database, Sun’s salary was about $145,000 in 2021. 4. Her most recent financial disclosure provides few details Besides her state salary, Sun reported no other sources of income in 2021, according to financial disclosure documents reviewed by Playbook. The New York Times, which broke the news of the raid on Sun’s home, reports that her husband, Chris Hu, operates a liquor store in Queens and had other ventures before then, like starting a company called Medical Supplies USA LLC during the COVID pandemic. The documents reviewed by Playbook also show that Hu was also listed as the CEO for the company “Foodie Fisherman LLC” and was shown to have partial ownership of a property in Jamaica, Queens, with his share reportedly valued somewhere between $250 to $500k. According to The Salem News, a local newspaper for communities north of Boston, Hu was with delegates from the Chinese Consulate General’s office during a trip and luncheon in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The article, published in 2016, said Hu’s company "exports more than a million pounds of lobster annually back to China." 5. She is active in the China General Chamber of Commerce Upon Sun’s appointment as Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, the China General Chamber of Commerce — an organization that calls itself “the largest and most impactful non-profit organization representing Chinese enterprises in the U.S.” — celebrated Sun for her appointment to the governor’s administration and for being the highest-appointed Asian American in the executive chamber. “CGCC has had the honor and pleasure to work with Ms. Sun and her colleagues on many charitable projects,” the organization’s website reads.   Live briefings, policy trackers, and procedural, industry, and people intelligence from POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy this election cycle. Secure your seat.      FROM CITY HALL Mayor Eric Adams is squarely behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic party's nominee for president. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office HOPING FOR HARRIS: Mayor Eric Adams reflected earlier today on the historic nature of Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy for president, drawing several parallels to his own ascent as a Black Democratic elected official. “We’re on the precipice of having the first African American woman mayor, I mean woman president. This is huge,” he said in a radio interview on the Block’s “Jonesy in the Morning.” Adams endorsed Harris, despite his ongoing, public frustrations with how the White House has handled border security and the spillover over migrants in New York City. He made a point of applauding her anyway. “Think about all of these young ladies who are going to be looking towards this and seeing themselves,” Adams said this morning. “Young boys stop me all the time and say, ‘I’m going to be mayor one day.’ When you break these glass ceilings, I remember how I felt when David Dinkins won. It just puts you on a trajectory.” Adams has said he’d be a “soldier” and do what is needed to help Harris defeat Republican Donald Trump, but the specifics of his contribution remain to be seen. The mayor is a delegate to the Democratic National Convention but earlier this week missed a virtual meeting of 260 delegates led by Hochul in part because, as Playbook reported, his email invitation ended up in the wrong hands. — Emily Ngo  IN OTHER NEWS... MSNBC’S FAVORITE GUEST: Hochul hit the airwaves — late last night and early this morning — to stump for Harris on MSNBC. She talked about focusing on Medicare, Social Security and the right to an abortion as being key to persuading voters outside the party to vote Democratic this November. She also reflected on seeing Harris up close during her visit to Buffalo in the wake of the city's 2022 mass shooting that took 10 lives in a predominantly Black neighborhood. “We saw her in action, and she was so compelling and so empathetic and showed she is tough as nails and a prosecutor, but she also has this very large heart and I want people to see that as well,” Hochul said. — Jason Beeferman — CASE DISMISSED: An NYPD judge recommended that the disciplinary case against Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey be dismissed. (THE CITY) — QUESTIONS FOR CARONE: Insurance giant GEICO is seeking to question Frank Carone, Mayor Adams’ political confidante, as part of a civil lawsuit involving corporate entities co-founded by Carone. (New York Daily News) — IN OPINION: CONGESTION PRICING. Rochester state Sen. Jeremy Cooney, chair of the Senate’s Transportation committee, says valuable upstate jobs will be lost after the halting of congestion pricing. (LoHud) — BRAT SUMMER: Eric Adams tried to get in on a meme associated with Kamala Harris. Instead, he got backlash. Here are the New York pols who are actually having a “brat summer.” (City & State) Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? Read it here.   Follow us on Twitter Jason Beeferman @JasonBeeferman   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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