Wall Street Journal Quotes Matthew Sanderson on Upcoming Trial of Alleged Chinese Agent 

Working as a New York state aide, Linda Sun and her husband had a late-model Ferrari and paid cash for a $3.6 million Long Island mansion and a $1.9 million condo in Hawaii. How did she manage this on a government salary that never exceeded $145,000?

The answer, federal prosecutors allege in a trial that began Monday, is that Sun acted as an undeclared agent for China who compelled two New York governors to take actions favorable to China in coordination with its consul general and others supportive of Beijing. Sun’s payoff, prosecutors say, was millions of dollars in side deals arranged with the help of Chinese officials primarily through her husband’s businesses. All of it supported a lavish lifestyle, including a steady diet of the Chinese consulate chef’s salted duck dinners.

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The government’s case stops short of calling Sun a spy. Instead, the allegations speak to a “betrayal of the public” that will spice up the charges for a jury, said Matthew T. Sanderson, a lawyer in Washington at Caplin & Drysdale. A case related to China, he said, inherently carries a political dimension.

“It has a lot to do with who we view as acting adversarially in the United States,” said Sanderson, who isn’t involved in the case.

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However, Trump put fresh emphasis on FARA in a September order that directed a National Joint Terrorism Task Force to look into foreign influence networks. Sanderson said the president’s directive suggests “FARA cases will be a priority. I don’t know if they will be China-related.

For the full article, please visit The Wall Street Journal’s website.