A U.S. journalist who worked for Chinese state media received a two-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to operating as an unregistered agent for China’s Ministry of State Security, collecting at least $100,000 while recruiting sources and gathering sensitive information from potential assets.

Betrayal For Money

Thomas Weir Pauken II, 51, accepted responsibility for his actions and will not appeal the sentence, according to his defense attorney Charles Burnham. The court also imposed 36 months of supervised release with a complete ban on overseas travel. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg stated that Pauken betrayed his country for financial gain while supporting Chinese intelligence operations and recruitment efforts.

Pauken moved to China in 2010 and worked for various state-controlled news organizations, including CCTV and most recently Xinhua news agency starting in 2024. From 2019 until his February 2026 arrest, he operated under the direction of Chinese government officials, including a handler identified as Cathy who claimed his reports reached Chinese President Xi Jinping directly.

Recruiting Assets And Providing Equipment

Federal investigators discovered Pauken went beyond writing reports. Cathy instructed him to recruit individuals capable of providing classified information to China. In one documented case, Pauken met with a prospective source seeking a position in the Trump administration, providing the person with a Samsung phone, computer, and passwords for encrypted messaging platforms Signal and Telegram, plus file-sharing service NetDisk.

When Customs and Border Protection agents stopped Pauken entering the United States in January 2025, he told FBI investigators he was 80 percent certain the prospective administration employee would provide classified information to China, though he claimed to have advised against it. Pauken revealed Cathy typically funded his trips to America and wired payments to his wife’s bank accounts.

Family Connections And Public Profile

The Texas native used the alias Tom McGregor for his commentary work at his father’s request. His father, former Texas Republican Party chairman in the 1990s who later ran for governor, wanted distance from his son’s China-focused career. Pauken published two books under his real name covering U.S.-China relations and the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen. His defense attorney emphasized that prosecutors agreed Pauken never provided classified information to Chinese officials, though he facilitated operations designed to obtain such intelligence from others. The case represents another federal prosecution targeting undisclosed work for Beijing as tensions between Washington and China remain elevated.