Stepping in deep Liu-doo

John Liu,

A key aide to embattled city Comptroller John Liu may have talked her way into criminal charges yesterday by admitting under oath that she offered to illegally fund donations to his mayoral campaign.

Sharon Lee testified that she phoned about five friends and relatives and offered to reimburse their contributions to help meet a $1 million fund-raising goal while working as a Liu campaign volunteer in July 2011.

Asked if she knew what she was doing was wrong, Lee answered: “I didn’t realize how bad it was, truth be told.”

After getting scolded by Manhattan federal Judge Richard Sullivan for repeatedly not answering the question, she finally said: “Yes.”

Under cross-examination, Lee said that while her mother and aunt donated $800 each, she never repaid either of them, and she maintained that no one in Liu’s campaign knew she had offered reimbursements.

Last week, prosecutor Justin Anderson told the judge that Lee would perjure herself if she said that on the stand, and during questioning yesterday he focused on an online chat in which Lee told defendant and former Liu campaign manager Jia “Jenny” Hou that an “unscrupulous campaign” could disguise $10,000 in illegal contributions by having 100 people each donate $100 in cash.

Anderson also noted during Lee’s testimony yesterday that Hou allegedly offered to reimburse a former boyfriend for a campaign contribution around the same time.

Lee insisted her chat with Hou was merely “hypothetical” and said Liu’s campaign was conducted entirely “aboveboard.”

Lee had initially been expected to testify against Hou and former Liu fund-raiser Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan under a non-prosecution deal, but that collapsed on the eve of the trial.

Outside court, Lee’s defense lawyer, Andrew Lankler, wouldn’t say whether he expected the feds to charge her.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara declined to comment.

Liu’s lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment.