Virginia man pleads guilty to spying for China, paid by handlers
A former Chinese state-media writer admitted he took money and orders from PRC handlers, including tasks tied to U.S. political recruitment and sensitive information.
Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, admitted in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, that he acted as an agent of a foreign government inside the United States, a plea that prosecutors say exposes how Beijing’s intelligence services can exploit access, credibility and media experience for covert work.
Federal prosecutors said Pauken worked at the direction and control of people he knew worked for the People’s Republic of China from at least 2019 through February 2026, including a handler he met in 2017 using the English name Cathy. They said Cathy assigned him tasks such as meeting potential intelligence assets, giving them a laptop and cellphone to communicate with her, telling them what information was needed and sending her the reports. Pauken received at least $100,000, plus travel expenses, and Cathy paid for multiple trips between China and the United States between 2019 and 2025.
Court filings describe a second layer of contact as well. Pauken also worked for two other China-based figures he knew as Richard and William, and he sold reports to a group of Chinese individuals from Wuhan who were seeking information about technology and the U.S. Department of Justice. Prosecutors said that Wuhan group wanted him to find an expert who could help them with cyber espionage.
The case also reaches into the blurred line between journalism, advocacy and foreign influence. Pauken lived in China since 2010 and worked for Xinhua News, China Global Television Network, China Central Television and China Radio International, writing under the name Tom McGregor. Court filings said he used the pseudonym at his father’s request so he would not be linked to his work in China. His father, Thomas Pauken, was a prominent Texas Republican who served in President Ronald Reagan’s White House, chaired the Texas Republican Party from 1994 to 1997, later led the Texas Workforce Commission and ran for governor in 2014. Prosecutors said Pauken’s Chinese handlers were obsessed with his father.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped Pauken in January 2025 as he entered the country carrying $3,000 in cash and a yellow paper listing passwords for encrypted messaging apps. He later told border agents and the FBI that he had traveled to the United States to recruit an unnamed person seeking a Trump administration job, with the goal of passing information to Chinese intelligence services. He also told investigators he served as a middleman between Cathy and people who might be willing to provide information about the U.S. government, and court filings said he believed one associate had an 80% chance of giving classified information to China despite warnings not to do so.
The FBI arrested Pauken in February 2026, and a magistrate judge denied pretrial release in March. He faces up to 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1, 2026. Through defense lawyer Charles Burnham, Pauken said he accepted responsibility for working as an agent of the PRC without first filing required U.S. government forms and said he hoped his work would promote peaceful relations and advance religious freedom in China.
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