American journalist charged with serving as unregistered agent for China - POLITICO
Skip to Main Content
American journalist charged with serving as unregistered agent for China<br>Thomas Pauken II allegedly told the FBI he was “80 percent sure” an associate now working for the Trump administration would give classified information to China.
Members of the military honor guard prepare for Chinese President Xi Jinping to greet President Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP
By Josh Gerstein and Jacob Wendler05/25/2026 05:38 PM EDT
An American journalist and political commentator who has lived in China for more than a decade is facing a criminal charge in the U.S. of acting as an agent for the Chinese government.<br>Thomas Pauken II allegedly prepared confidential reports that his Chinese handler told him were being conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to an affidavit FBI Special Agent Timothy Healy submitted in federal court. Pauken also took a lie detector test at the request of his Chinese contact and provided a cell phone and laptop to another individual in the U.S. who was seeking a job in the Trump administration, Healy wrote.
Pauken said he consistently rebuffed his handler’s requests for classified information, but told the FBI that he thought there was an 80 percent chance that the other individual he was helping to put his handler in contact with would provide classified information to China, despite what Pauken said were his warnings not to do so, the affidavit says.
The individual Pauken reached out to, who is not named in public court papers, “was not hired for the exact job he wanted in the administration but currently works for a U.S. government agency,” Healy wrote.<br>Pauken was arrested by the FBI in February and has been in custody since. In March, a federal magistrate judge in Alexandria, Virginia, denied Pauken’s bid for pretrial release, court records show.<br>U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has set a “pre-indictment plea hearing” Friday for Pauken. Such a hearing usually signals a defendant’s plan to offer a guilty to some charge or charges, typically in an agreement with prosecutors. Prosecutors told the court last month that they’d had “productive discussions” with Pauken’s counsel about a resolution of the case.<br>“It’s critical to understand that Mr. Pauken is not charged with spying or mishandling classified information,” Charles Burnham, Pauken’s attorney, said in a statement Monday. “The government’s complaint charges that Mr. Pauken did professional work for a foreign government without first completing certain required paperwork. We look forward to responding to the government’s allegations in court.”<br>A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alexandria declined to comment.<br>According to court records, the FBI appears to have sought to deploy Pauken as a double agent. U.S. law enforcement confronted Pauken about his activities when he returned to the U.S. in January 2025, but did not arrest him until February of this year, the FBI affidavit says.<br>After confronting Pauken more than a year ago, U.S. officials told him “to continue his plans as if nothing had changed. The FBI had determined that any sudden change in Pauken’s plans could put Pauken at risk from” China’s Ministry of State Security, Healy wrote. Healy also said Pauken was told not to tell any Chinese officials about his meeting with the FBI.<br>When Pauken returned to the U.S. from China in February, the FBI “simultaneously monitored” a meeting Pauken had at a Washington hotel with the individual he’d delivered the cell phone and laptop to last year. During that meeting, Pauken gave the person a SIM card and offered him a $10,000 bonus to work with Pauken’s Chinese handler, providing “one report per week” that “would influence policy and be read by Xi Jinping.”<br>Shortly after that meeting, Pauken was arrested. Healy’s affidavit is silent about whether any action was taken against the other individual. A spokesperson for prosecutors handling the case declined to comment on that person’s status.<br>While the Justice Department typically publicizes public court proceedings related to espionage or foreign agent activities, no press release was issued about Pauken’s case. At his first court appearance in March, Burnham asked for the case to be kept sealed. It remained under wraps for about 10 days before being unsealed, although it seems to have garnered little attention.<br>Pauken faces one felony count of violating a federal law that makes it a crime to act on behalf of a foreign government in the U.S. without registering with the attorney general. The criminal statute used to charge Pauken carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison and is considered more serious than the Foreign Agents Registration Act.<br>Former Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded the Justice Department’s foreign influence task force as one of her first acts as the head of DOJ,...