The trial of Linda Sun, a former aide to Democrat Governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul, began on Wednesday with prosecutors saying Sun was "for sale" to China and exchanged information for perks from the communist nation.

“Her loyalty was for sale, and the Chinese government, which wanted to influence the New York government, was willing to pay her to do their bidding,” Assistant US Attorney Amanda Shami said in Brooklyn federal court.

Sun's husband, Chris Hu, is also on trial for fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering, but Sun was also charged with acting as a foreign agent for China.

The trials are expected to last a month.

Chinese influence

Sun is accused of using her power with the governors to sway their policies in favor of China.

She reportedly once prevented Cuomo from thanking Chinese rival Taiwan in a speech, for example.

Shami told jurors that Sun even bragged about her activities for China in texts.

Another way Sun allegedly used her influence was to steer a PPE contract towards her cousin by altering emails to claim that a third party had endorsed their company.

She was allegedly rewarded by the Chinese government, steering millions of dollars in contracts to her husband's lobster-exporting business, as well as free travel and tickets to concerts.

 Her side

On the other hand, Sun's attorney argued that she was nothing but a dedicated public servant.

“Linda Sun did what she was hired to do. She didn’t commit a crime by doing her job,” Jarrod Schaeffer argued.

“The evidence will show that Linda was working on behalf of New Yorkers,” he told the jury. Later, he said, “This New Yorker was working for New York.”

Schaeffer explained away the rewards Sun and Hu allegedly received and her actions to steer lawmakers away from topics sensitive to China by asking, “Isn’t that just politics?”

I guess if you use most modern Democrats for an example (the Clintons, the Bidens), maybe it is.