WASHINGTON – An American journalist who has lived in China since 2010 and worked for several state media organizations there pleaded guilty in a U.S. court Thursday to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, according to the Justice Department.
Thomas Pauken II, writing under the pseudonym Tom McGregor, is set to be sentenced on September 1 in a U.S. District Court, where he faces a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Pauken adopted his pen name to distance himself from his father, Thomas Pauken, a notable figure in Texas politics who served as chairman of the Texas Republican Party in the 1990s and ran for governor over a decade ago.
This case is part of a broader trend, with the federal government increasingly prosecuting individuals accused of working for the Chinese government without proper disclosure. For instance, Eileen Wang, a former mayor of Arcadia, California, agreed in May to plead guilty to similar charges, accused of promoting articles favorable to Beijing. Meanwhile, Linda Sun, a former aide to New York governors, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to foreign influence and money laundering.
Pauken’s defense lawyer, Charles Burnham, stated that Pauken “has accepted responsibility for working as an agent of the People’s Republic of China without first completing certain required U.S. Government forms.” Burnham emphasized that Pauken had intended his work to “promote peaceful relations and advance the cause of religious freedom in China.”
Pauken was arrested in February after arriving in Washington from China, where he allegedly met with an individual seeking a position in the Trump administration. During this meeting, he provided a SIM card and offered $10,000 for reports intended to influence Chinese President Xi Jinping, as detailed in the affidavit filed by the FBI.
The affidavit suggests he was acting as a middleman between Chinese agents and potential sources of classified information in the U.S. Since 2019, Pauken reportedly collaborated with various Chinese operatives, including an individual referred to as “Cathy,” who he believed was associated with China’s security services. For his services, Pauken had received approximately $100,000 and other benefits for the reports he provided.
In January 2025, Pauken returned to the U.S. and was stopped by Customs and Border Protection agents. During his interviews with these agents and the FBI, he mentioned his plans to meet a person who might be hired by the Trump administration, with whom he intended to share a Samsung phone and a laptop computer. Pauken expressed confidence that this individual would provide classified information to Beijing if hired.
Despite being initially allowed to continue, Pauken later returned to propose a collaboration involving an oil deal, ultimately leading to a monitored meeting where he again offered a SIM card and a financial incentive for policy-influencing reports for Xi Jinping.
Investigations revealed that Pauken had not registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, nor had he informed the U.S. attorney general about his activities as an agent for China. Furthermore, it was disclosed that he sold reports to a group from Wuhan, China, who were interested in technology and cyberespionage.
