The FBI searched a Long Island home on Tuesday morning that property records show belongs to a former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, law enforcement sources close to the case confirmed.
Federal officers were seen around the Manhasset property linked to the former staffer, Linda Sun, who left the governor’s office nearly two years ago.
The nature of the investigation is unclear, and no criminal charges have been filed.
Hochul’s office declined to comment on the FBI search. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, which covers Long Island, also declined to comment.
When reached by phone Tuesday, Sun’s husband declined to comment.
According to her government bio, Sun was appointed deputy chief of staff to Hochul, a Democrat, in September 2021. At the time, she was the highest-appointed Asian American in the administration.
After leaving Hochul’s office, she served briefly as a deputy secretary in the state Labor Department. A person familiar with the circumstances of her departure said she was fired after evidence of misconduct was discovered. The matter was forwarded to law enforcement at the time, according to the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters. The person declined to detail the nature of the alleged misconduct.
In 2023, according to her LinkedIn account, she managed the campaign of Austin Cheng, a Democrat who sought unsuccessfully to succeed George Santos, R-N.Y., after Santos was expelled from the U.S. House. Cheng did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Before working for Hochul, Sun worked in state government for almost 15 years. From 2009 to 2012, Sun was chief of staff to Grace Meng, then a state assembly member from Queens and now a Democratic member of the U.S. House.
During the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sun was a deputy superintendent at the state’s Department of Financial Services, deputy chief diversity officer and director of Asian American Affairs for the state’s Executive Chamber, and director of external affairs for Global NY at Empire State Development.
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