On September 10, 14 Republican senators from the New York State Senate jointly wrote a letter to the state’s legislative leaders, urging the establishment of a bipartisan committee to investigate the case of former state government aide Linda Sun being accused of acting as a secret agent for the Chinese Communist government. They aim to identify security loopholes in the hiring process of senior officials in the state government and propose solutions.
Linda Sun had served in various capacities within the New York state government for over a decade, including as Deputy Secretary for Diversity under former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Deputy Chief of Staff to current Governor Hochul, and Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Labor. She and her husband Chris Hu were arrested by the FBI at their Long Island home on September 3. The Eastern District of New York federal prosecutors have charged them with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and other crimes. The fact that Chinese spies were able to infiltrate the highest levels of the state government highlights a series of issues related to foreign espionage, corruption, and security vulnerabilities.
In their letter to the legislative leaders including Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Robert Ortt, Carl Heastie, and William Barclay, the 14 Republican state senators, led by Jake Ashby, called for the formation of a bipartisan committee to jointly investigate the entire incident, aiming to eliminate political suspicions and work together to address the matter.
The letter also outlined the areas the committee should focus on, including:
(1) Identifying and addressing the deficiencies in the hiring process of senior officials in the state government to prevent infiltration of Chinese spies into the highest levels of the government.
(2) Reviewing the state government’s national security measures and its ability to defend against foreign interference.
(3) Investigating why foreign agents, such as Linda Sun, were able to forge governor’s signature documents without authorization, and the shortcomings in related state government command procedures.
(4) Investigating why the defendant, Linda Sun, engaged in illegal activities for so many years without triggering any attention from internal state government oversight agencies or security mechanisms before federal charges were brought.
The letter also suggested that the committee should collaborate with external experts, including national security and cybersecurity professionals, federal law enforcement and intelligence officials, and human resources experts. They emphasized that the committee must have broad powers, including the ability to subpoena witnesses.