Mistrial Declared for Ex-New York Governor's Aide in China Agent Case After Jury Deadlocks

A U.S. federal judge on Monday declared a mistrial in the closely watched case of a former senior New York official accused of acting as an unregistered agent for China, after the jury announced it was unable to reach a verdict on any of the charges.

Jury Deadlocked on All 19 Counts

The jury remained deadlocked on all 19 counts following several days of deliberation in the case against Linda Sun. A former aide to New York governors Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo, Sun was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

She and her husband, co-defendant Chris Hu, also faced charges of wire fraud, bribery, and tax evasion. Prosecutors alleged the couple routed some US$35 million in healthcare contracts to favored suppliers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case, first filed in September 2024, has drawn widespread media attention for its allegations of China's influence at high levels of state government.

Prosecution Vows Retrial Amid Shifting Legal Landscape

The government intends to pursue the case again. Prosecutor Alexander Solomon told the court that the government wants to retry the couple "as soon as possible." A status conference to discuss next steps is scheduled for January 26, 2026.

According to the source, a complicating factor in the roughly three-week trial may have been the Donald Trump administration's move this year to soften the enforcement of FARA. The law, created to monitor political influence peddling, has recently been reoriented by the administration to focus more on what it calls "traditional" espionage cases, potentially creating ambiguity for jurors.