A former New York official accused of working for China said that Gov. Kathy Hochul as the state's lieutenant governor was "much more obedient" than Andrew Cuomo, who was the governor, in a message to a Chinese consulate official, according to evidence presented at the former aide's trial.

Linda Sun, 42, had convinced Hochul to record a Lunar New Year video touting China’s New York consulate when she made the remark, the New York Post reported.

“She is much more obedient than the governor,” Sun wrote to China consular official Lihua Li in a Jan. 25, 2021, message shown to jurors in Brooklyn federal court earlier this week. The messages were made public on Thursday.

“The deputy governor listens to me more than the governor does,” Sun wrote in another text minutes later to Huang Ping, who headed the consulate office at the time.

Sun took credit for convincing Hochul to film the video for the Chinese Consulate in which she wished viewers "happy New Year" in Mandarin.

The Chinese officials had asked for Cuomo to record the video, but Sun told them that she could likely get Hochul to participate instead, according to the messages.

“Let me ask, but likely the LG can probably do it,” Sun replied to Li, referring to Hochul, in a message.

“That would be great as well. Thanks,” Li replied.

Sun then asked, “Can you share with me some talking points of things you want her to mention? I can make sure to include it in her remarks.”

Hochul recorded a two-minute video — which is still on the New York Chinese Consul’s YouTube page — where she mentions Ping by name, calling it a “privilege” to have worked with him on issues impacting Chinese New Yorkers.

According to prosecutors, Ping had his private chef supply Sun’s family with luxurious salted ducks from their hometown of Nanjing during the same time span when she is accused of acting as an illegal unregistered foreign agent for China.

Sun is also accused of doing other favors for Chinese officials in exchange for millions of dollars in business funneled to her husband Chris Hu’s seafood export company.

The alleged corruption scheme allowed Sun and her husband to have a Ferrari Roma and afford a $4 million Long Island mansion and a $2 million second home in Hawaii, according to prosecutors.

Requesting a Lunar New Year video was part of a broader effort to have public figures record China-friendly clips following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Then-Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Harvard President Lawrence Bacow also recorded similar videos at the time, according to texts shown in court.

Sun, who was fired from the New York state government in 2023 after the allegations emerged of her working for China, has pleaded not guilty. 

“Linda Sun was hired by the Executive Chamber over a decade ago and was promptly terminated in 2023 after evidence of misconduct was found,” Hochul spokesperson Kara Cumoletti told the Post on Thursday. “No one should put much stock into the words of an individual who has been accused of violating her responsibility to the state and lying repeatedly for her own benefit.”

Sun’s attorneys have argued that her relationship with the Chinese consulate was a normal and legal part of her duties.

“Linda Sun did what she was hired to do. She didn’t commit a crime by doing her job,” her defense attorney, Jarrod Schaeffer, told the jury at the start of the trial.